What maids did? Part 4

Afraid that she had scalded her employer's toddler after she gave him hot milk, she lied to the boy's grandmother, claiming that the boy's twin brother was the one who had caused the injuries. Indonesian maid Tri Septiana, 24, came clean only after the grandmother refused to believe her.

Tri was jailed for a week yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of causing hurt due to a negligent act.

The injured two-year-old and his family members cannot be named to protect his identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Low said Tri started working for the family in Bukit Batok on June 4.

On Sept 4, she started her day at 5.30am as usual. About four hours later, the toddler's grandmother left the flat with his four-year-old sister for a nearby market.

Tri, who has a three-year-old daughter back in Indonesia, was left with the twins. When one of the boys started crying at around noon, she went to the kitchen to prepare his milk. But she forgot to test the temperature of the liquid before feeding it to the toddler. After drinking the first mouthful, he spat out the hot milk and it dribbled down his neck. He started crying and was still in tears when his grandmother returned soon afterwards.

Tri told the grandmother that his tongue got bitten by his twin brother. When the older woman noticed blisters and red scald marks on the right side of the boy's mouth and neck, Tri said they were scratch marks caused by the twin brother. Eventually, she confessed that she had given the toddler hot milk when the grandmother refused to believe her. The boy's mother was notified and she made a police report at around 1.40pm that day.

The toddler was taken to the National University Hospital where he was found to be suffering from injuries including scalds on his neck and tongue, and blisters on his lips. He was warded for six days.

Although it was an accident, lawyer Rajan Supramaniam from Hilborne Law, who was not involved in the case, said a person can be hauled to court for causing hurt, even if it was accidental. He cited an example: "A negligent driver who injures another motorist on the road unintentionally can be prosecuted in court."

"What more, in this case, the victim was a vulnerable child." In mitigation, Tri's lawyer Nasser Ismail told District Judge Ng Peng Hong that his client was remorseful. He also said the boy's mother often scolded Tri for no good reason. Mr Nasser added that Tri was very depressed, scared and confused at the time of the offence. For causing hurt due to a negligent act, she could have been jailed up to six months and fined up to $2,500.

Afraid that she had scalded her employer's toddler after she
gave him hot milk, she lied to the boy's grandmother, claiming that the boy's
twin brother was the one who had caused the injuries. Indonesian maid Tri Septiana, 24, came clean
only after the grandmother refused to believe her.

Tri was jailed for a week yesterday after pleading guilty to
one count of causing hurt due to a negligent act.

The injured two-year-old and his family members cannot be
named to protect his identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Low said Tri started working
for the family in Bukit Batok on June 4.

On Sept 4, she started her day at 5.30am as usual. About four hours later, the toddler's
grandmother left the flat with his four-year-old sister for a nearby market.

Tri, who has a three-year-old daughter back in Indonesia,
was left with the twins. When one of the
boys started crying at around noon, she went to the kitchen to prepare his
milk. But she forgot to test the
temperature of the liquid before feeding it to the toddler. After drinking the first mouthful, he spat
out the hot milk and it dribbled down his neck.
He started crying and was still in tears when his grandmother returned
soon afterwards.

Tri told the grandmother that his tongue got bitten by his
twin brother. When the older woman
noticed blisters and red scald marks on the right side of the boy's mouth and
neck, Tri said they were scratch marks caused by the twin brother. Eventually, she confessed that she had given
the toddler hot milk when the grandmother refused to believe her. The boy's mother was notified and she made a
police report at around 1.40pm that day.

The toddler was taken to the National University Hospital
where he was found to be suffering from injuries including scalds on his neck
and tongue, and blisters on his lips. He was warded for six days.

Although it was an accident, lawyer Rajan Supramaniam from
Hilborne Law, who was not involved in the case, said a person can be hauled to
court for causing hurt, even if it was accidental. He cited an example: "A negligent driver
who injures another motorist on the road unintentionally can be prosecuted in
court."

"What more, in this case, the victim was a vulnerable
child." In mitigation, Tri's lawyer
Nasser Ismail told District Judge Ng Peng Hong that his client was remorseful. He also said the boy's mother often scolded
Tri for no good reason. Mr Nasser added
that Tri was very depressed, scared and confused at the time of the offence. For causing hurt due to a negligent act, she
could have been jailed up to six months and fined up to $2,500.

Straits Times Facebook comments:
Deah Borhan - Waaahhhh everybody can just comment. Do u know the new generation maid? They not happy they abuse so when they do get caught.Just change employer...Why mothers cannot raise their own child? Get govt to implement all companies to have childcare attach to office. We dun mind bringing kids to work. Childcare free for all...I dun mind.Having a maid never solve problem.They add to our problem.

Neela Vengadasalam - The maid deserved to be punished. If she can't handle ask for transfer. What right has she got to inflict pain to that little helpless child. Really annoying.

Cheoh Boo - Says the person who has never given birth before or having to juggle the role of a full time mother, wife, daughter and employee all in one.

李姎芳 - Dun understand why some ppl will make statement like 'why give birth and yet don't want to stay home take care, why still go out to work, etc'...

In the perfect world, money drop from the sky... But too bad, we're living in a far from perfect world...

Peter Weed - Cause these fools doesnt know we locals need to work a lot harder to earn as equal as those expat.

Stephanie Luo - WTF?! Lifting by the head?! I hate it when they tell you the max sentence to such cases but end up the maid only gets a mere 3 months. So the court is waiting for the child to suffer dearly before a more severe punishment is given.

Serene Laow - Just simply don't understand how can some ignorant guy putting the blame on the mom. Obviously is the stupid maid fault. Cannot take it then resign or run away, why take it on the child? I wish to blame on the father too, but I don't want to make a fool of myself.

Raymond - Gist The maid did wrong and should be punished, however the big picture here is that so many are letting someone else act as parent for their children. Children need their parents, so many maids are filling that role instead .I dont agree with it

Alfy Yant - My cousin maid was sentence 2 weeks ago to 1 week in jail only for feeding a celebral palsy child with hot boiling water. Certified by d doctors at NUH was a 1st deg burn he suffer mouth n throat. D child was warded longer then d maid sentence. Their(maid n lawyers) story was d maid stress. Have to look after 3 children. Which 1 of them is in childcare. N d d grandma is always at home helping in everyway. Where is justice??? No where to be seen or near?? Wat is happening to Singapore??

Bommayi Bomma Standard statement will be.
Maid under stress so vent the anger on d kid.
Some will say why blame d maid?
But d devil did not think abt d child before doing tis.
Wat kind of punishment is tis 3mnths or else fine.
Shld leave a permanent scar on her so tat she will remember for life.
Well our govt gives so much of freedom n support them.

Walter Gan - Maid could be too pressurized and probably employer is too demanding that spark the maids to revenge using the child as a tradeoff.

Deah Borhan - I agree with some not all but some. Do you know the new generation maid mainly indonesian do not sent money to their home but to their account instead. They spend sgd dollars to doll themselves up cos of sunday off...They spent money on smartphone to talk to their bf on their next meeting. Or rendevous.So when they tell their sob story ask them how much do they sent back home to indon. The old gen maid they are the genuine one who work for the sake of building a nest for their future.How many of them.really save n think about their future? We sg rean have to abide by the rule.Give them shelter.Own bed Aircon room n food accessible to them 24/7.i have my ex maid complain she getting fat cos we eat chicken meat fish everyday.What they do?Become lazy.Housework only do basic.Let our children watch n glued to tv all day n she chit chat for 3-4 hours on the phone.We mothers have to work 8 hours in an office.Do paperwork from 8 am -6pm every single day with 45 mins lunch n 30 mins teabreak.So who is freaking the lady of the house here.We sgrean work from mon-fri.alt sat off.the only off day is sunday..So what freaking stress are you freaking talking about.That we oso lee way give them off day on sunday.They go holidays with us.Really bro,they are bunch of ingrate when back in indo.They could not even get a proper meal.Think every story have 2 sides.Listen to both side n make judgement.

Yoanna Kim Annisa - Very simple..if cannot take the presure & stress dont work as a maid...no matter what the maid basic thing is to respect their employer & family...the baby is innocent...

Marrisha Mary From my view, im a maid too, I've stay in training center fr 3 x., mostly employer prefer to young n nice looking maid to tc their young children, they dont care whether she has experience or not, young n nice looking maid not guarantee tt she will do her job better

Danielle Noriega Lee - What the maid had done is wrong but what triggered it would be the employers verbal and physical abuses. Employers should be kinder to their maids and talk to them about work. But some maids are incorrigible. Many but not all are lazy and would take things for granted.

Hong Lin - Just be discerning when employing maids especially for very young children n the elderlies. Know the statistics of the various maids that committed unkind acts n which countries they come from would help provide a reason to choose a particular maid. Good luck!

Dani'El Herwie - This debate of who should be blame will never end. Reality is, it works both ways. Respect must be mutually given and receive by both employers and helpers. If employers want to entrust their babies to strangers, at least make the stranger/helper be part of the family first. Once that emotional barrier is down, helpers will work better and efficiently for their employers.

I have seen employers acting high-handedly towards their helpers. At the same time, I have seen employers treating their helpers with so much respect. Nobody is born wanting to hurt babies. But people want to hurt those who are helpless because they themselves are hurt.

Shanti Vellu - Sad it's only 3 months. If the situation was the other way round?

Norkhatilah Maricar - Maid from hell! I would have slapped the maid a few times before reporting. How dare she did what she did. No empathy for an innocent child.

Lianhe Wanbao, 7 Oct 2014Myanmese maid has been well treated by employer. Maid has a room with bathroom all to herself. Doesn't need to cook because she told employer she can't cook. This maid was able to plan her main duty - household chores at her own discretion and spend quite a number of days all alone in the house .... nobody breathing down her neck. After working for one year, employer discovered maid has purchased a mobile phone without her knowledge. When her phone usage was high, employer kept her mobile phone, said will send her home if she abused her privilege. Maid used employer's house phone, mainly in the night. Employer has seen her chit-chatting in the night but it didn't cause her to be on guard. Maid rang her sweetheart in Thailand and clocked 50 hours of IDD calls in one month, which amounted to S$1300.

Winter: I guess that Myanmese maid was trying to take revenge on employer who didn't allow her to chat on the phone freely. It could also be a way to vent her anger that she would be repatriated if she continues to misbehave.Employer should take note that it is unwise and not to your advantage to tell your maid in advance that you're repatriating her. It doesn't pay to be kind. Maybe employers who are thinking of repatriating their FDWs should check whether the house phone has been illegally used by an outgoing bad maid. If anybody felt this is a small amount to employer then maybe you should foot the bill and tell me whether it is worth it! You must be thinking "why should I?" Same for employer ... the usage was made by the maid so why should employer be held responsible? Just because maid lives with employer? Or employer is the "legal guardian", has more money than FDW so ought to bear all sorts of losses? You deemed this as fair?Click: Installing CCTV cam? Get approval firstBy the way, employers are not in the wrong to install CCTV in our own house.... as long as the intentions are right and not because you're a psycho, enjoy seeing a naked maid. It is illegal to install CCTV cameras outside our flats without permission from the town council and Housing Board. However, the police may install CCTV cameras for the purpose of deterring crime after seeking prior approval from the town council. FDWs' employer install CCTV cameras in our own premises for our children/loved ones' sake. It is the best evidence to prove a bad maid in the house. No words can beat actual video taken. Nobody will believe you because employers are often viewed as tyrants or bullies, whereas FDWs are vulnerable and helpless... the fault is often on employers!

Domestic worker jailed for stealing $10,000, Straits Times, 23 Sep 2014
An Indonesian domestic worker was jailed for six months on Tuesday for stealing $10,000 from a member of her employer's household. Misroah, 33, who goes by one name, admitted to stealing $10,000 from Madam Hawah Haji Fadil, 87, at a flat in Tampines Street 33 on March 15.

The court heard that on Aug 19, Mr Mohammed Faiz Junaidi, 29, whose wife hired the maid, noticed that the helper had some new clothes. He became suspicious and checked his grandmother's bag, and found $10,000 missing. He then confronted Misroah who admitted to the theft.

Misroah revealed that on March 15, while the couple were at work, she was cleaning Madam Hawah's room when she saw a black bag containing $10,000 in $50 bills. She took the money and kept it in her room. Three days later, she handed part of the $10,000 to her friend to remit to her hometown in Indonesia. She then used some of the stolen money to buy three dresses.

Misroah, who could not pay the money back, could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.

Anthony Lee - It should be 10000 divided by her monthly salary say 400 is 25 month X 2 equal 50 months in jail. Then it becomes a deterance.

Qubeley Tan - No one is saying all maids are theft-minded or thieves, He's just saying those who think of stealing will not be discouraged by the light sentence.

Susanna Ng - Maids are usually very careful on spending becoz their families back home needed money; so for this one to be buying new clothes, maybe too many, hence the suspicion.

David W W Wong - 6 months jail to exchange for 10K. Not a bad deal as it come with free food and lodging too. How many months she got to work to save 10K?

Pei Hsia Cheng - The judge must give a sentence that should be more than 6 months. Serving a sentence that is at most 3 to 4 months. And free 1 way ticket home + exchange rate woah millionaire. So what this arrest and record is in singapore not Indonesia. Her family can still get a good life for about 2 years without working or buy some land.

Nainakala Sangpang - In the end the maid won! Sentence in Jail: SG government pays for it.Money=C can't pay, Loss=Employer won't get money back..Logical...

Thecondesa LaDelta Deartezzo - I didnt said maids got lots of money to buy clothes every months. U r leaving in singapore too rite?, Esprite, zara or mango most maid can afford cuz those clothes store always offer a great sale. N dnt mistaken those maid tht work with angmoh or expats their salary is above then $600. N yet the employer provide their meal. They can send $400 back home n the rest for themselves. Dont mistaken tht maid wear expencive stuff cuz they got sugar daddy. I myself wear expencive stuff I hv guess n okley sun glasess. I hv branded bag as coach, botkler n other brand, I wear expencive dress an shoes as coach, DKNY and banana republic. But I got all those frm my boss. I work with my boss for 5 years n renewed contract a month a go. I m lucky to jv such rich n kind hearted american boss. She buy expencive stuff whenever she go back to america. N I am not the only lucky maid. Lots of maid here experience the same as me. So please dont always think negatively when u see a maid wearing expencive stuff. Even my make up is frm chanel n bulgary
(Winter: I don't own any Esprite, zara or mango, even with sales, still too expensive for me. My FDW recently bought a pair of Reebok shoes at about S$85 + $20 shipment for her son. I exclaimed, I have not purchased anything so expensive!)

Hui Li Lim - Could not pay back the money and got jailed only? That's it?
FYI, her indo family are living a luxurious guilt free life now. All they have is to wait 6 months for her to be reunited and enjoy life tgt. How awesome!?
The poor 87 year old grandmother maybe scrimped and saved half her life away to stash that $10,000 and just a simple phrase "could not pay back" rid her off everything!!!
Why is nothing much done to protect our people? Why hasn't indo maid been declared bankrupt or some harsher punishment been imposed? Short term jail term for our foreign friends is becoming a vicious trend?

Susanna Ng - how daring! recently our helper stole some money, wasn't caught red-handed but we knew. So, we dropped hints here and there and ...... Lo and Behold! the money was returned to where it was ...... the next morning.

Marrisha Mary - U likely never know leh, many maid are hvg high class bf, gambling, being maid only used to hv free place to stay here and those xtra money is more higher thn their salary, got it?

Patrick Lionstar - Still want to have maids?
Even if 99% are good... it is still not worth risking your love one life !
They are strangers in your house.
Talk about sleeping with strangers...

Cop jailed for receiving sexual favours from maid accused of theft, Straits Times, 19 Aug 2014A police staff sergeant was jailed for 14 months on Tuesday after receiving sexual favours from a maid arrested for stealing from her employers.Parthivan Ramaya, 34, admitted three of four charges of corruptly obtaining bribes in the form of physical intimacy and sex from Ms Dwi Sulistiani. In exchange, he recommended lenient treatment for the 25-year-old Indonesian.The offences took place in January last year at Ang Mo Kio Police Division headquarters, where he was a senior investigation officer, and his flat in Yishun.The court heard that while interviewing her at the station, he told her of the consequences of her offence and asked if she wanted his help. She agreed - but he then told her to help him first.After her statement was recorded, Parthivan said he would help her to return to Indonesia and told her to touch him. He then groped her buttocks and took her to a different interview room where he hugged and kissed her. The next day, after administering a warning to the maid, he took her home and had sex with her in the living room. They had sex again while showering together.The court heard that the maid had sex with him because she thought that Parthivan had been lenient with her theft case as she was only given a warning and not charged.It was not revealed in court how the staff sergeant was caught. Pressing for a stiff sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Haniza Abnass said Parthivan had abused his position of trust as a senior investigation officer, adding: "It is necessary to send a strong message to serving officers that such transgressions will not be condoned. If left unchecked, such offences would erode public confidence in our law enforcement agencies." He could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed for up to five years on each charge.

Maid jailed for stamping on employer's foot, causing fracture, Straits Times, 29 Jul 2014
A maid who hit a 66-year-old retiree with a bamboo pole and stomped on her foot, causing it to fracture, was sentenced to three months' jail yesterday. Myanmar national Cing Sian Huai pleaded guilty to hurting Grace Toh Ah Bay on April 27 in a Bedok flat, where she worked as a maid for the victim and her mother, Seah Cheng Poh, 93.

The court heard that the incident happened when Cing refused to continue cleaning the dishes after Madam Toh scolded her for not doing a proper job. The 24-year-old maid then said she did not want to continue working and insisted on returning to the employment agency immediately. Madam Toh, however, refused to unlock the gate.

Cing then tried to force open the lock using a window wiper. When this failed, she started hitting the lock and gate with a bamboo pole. Both the wiper and pole were broken in the process. Madam Toh tried to calm Cing down, but the maid pushed her and hit her hand three times with the broken pole instead, and stomped on her foot after she fell. Besides a fractured metatarsal bone and bruises on Madam Toh's foot, the attack left her with bruises on her arms.

Cing also pushed Madam Seah when she tried to intervene, causing her to fall and hit her thigh on a wooden chair on the way down. One charge of using criminal force arising from this action, and another for causing hurt with the bamboo pole, were taken into consideration against Cing. Handing down the sentence, District Judge Lim Tse Haw said Cing's actions had far outweighed any provocation against her, and that the injury caused was not minor.

"Just as the court will protect domestic helpers against violence by their employers, it has an equal duty to protect employers, especially elderly ones, against violence by their domestic helpers," said the judge. Cing is understood to have begun working for the victims in March and has been in remand since she was first charged at the end of April.

She is expected to be released from prison soon, considering the three months already spent in remand, and then repatriated home. The maid, who had no previous convictions, could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to $5,000 for voluntarily causing hurt.

Madam Seah told Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily News what happened ....
After the three women went to church in the morning, Cing went out on her own and returned to the flat at 8pm. Madam Toh asked her to wash the dishes, then scolded her for not doing it properly.
Cing refused to continue washing and said she no longer wished to work for them.
An argument broke out between her and Madam Toh.

Cing said she wanted to go back to her employment agency. The court was told that she tried to leave the flat but the gate was locked. When Madam Toh refused to let her out, Cing got hold of a bamboo pole and smashed it against the gate until it broke. When Madam Toh tried to calm her down and told her to sit down, Cing used the broken pole to hit Madam Toh thrice on the left hand. She then stamped on Madam Toh's feet, fracturing the right foot. When Madam Seah tried to intervene, Cing pushed her backwards, causing the elderly woman to fall and hit her left thigh on a wooden chair. Madam Toh then phoned her brother, Mr Asher Toh Ah Hua, to come over, the court was told.

When he arrived, he asked Cing what had happened and she told him that she wanted to go back to her maid agency. He called the Singapore Civil Defence Force for an ambulance, who in turn alerted the police. Recalling the incident, Madam Seah told Shin Min: "She took a pole of about 40cm and hit the metal gate of our flat. She kept shouting that she wanted to go home.
"I can't remember if my son reached us first or the police.
"When the police arrived, she was just sitting quietly in a corner without saying a word."

The victims were taken to Changi General Hospital where Madam Seah was warded for two weeks. Madam Toh was given two weeks' hospitalisation leave.

Three months after the attack, mother and daughter - who live on their own - still have trouble moving around. They have a new maid but Madam Seah still needs a wheelchair while Madam Toh relies on crutches when she goes out, reported Shin Min. It was Cing's first time working in Singapore and she had been with the household for only 25 days when the incident happened, Madam Seah said.
Cing, who was not represented, pleaded for leniency and told the court that she was very sorry for what she had done.

Quimpo Rechel: You are right Rikyrk its a leason for those employer who treating their maid like a robot not a human being and the maid actually wont put on jail because i am sure she was suffering in that employer because the maid will not become wild and histerical if she been treated well.as a maid who work here in singapore for 12yrs i have experience to be a slave here so i know what is the feelings if you cannot stand with your employer attitute.leason to be learn by those employer who slaving their maid.

Hannah Pye: Not all maids, not all employers. Nobody should be grateful for a job, honest day's work for honest day's pay. Nobody should be grateful that they are treated like a human. If I yelled at someone at 9pm then locked them in my home I think I'd expect them to react.

Betchay Trongco: Even we stay in our own country we never starve coz we have plenty of food no need to buy rice and veg. Not like u here hahaha..we have our own house maybe u dont

Helen Tundag Tung Ida Zura: send back your maid to the agent if she is too lazy to do your house work and keep eating your food why you are still keeping her into your house and complain you think what! Your the best employer in the world? Haha what you gain in telling in public?

Nenita Lin: Yeah! Your right,we won't force ourselves to stay those kind of employer treated us like animals.that's why i slowly finding an employer here and i don't want to wait that it would happened to me also ....so tired keep thinking what should i do to make my employer stop complaining about the food.if cook so little she complain if cook more complain again.so stress for me better to fine a new one.

Daisyjane Balane Mella: Very clever!!! Not all employer's are bad nor helpers are bad no body is perfect!!! Mdm Ida, don't be over protective of ur self if u think u r good enuf so, why you still taking maid from pinas.

Bhibe Lerma: To Ms.Ida Zura-may the peace be upon you,it seems like you are nOt happy with your life,that was based on my own assessment,as i read all your comments..helpers are humans like you.we have our own sensitivity and all we want is fair treatment..fair treatment accdg.to human law....To all the helpers there like me,Be strong,there is always a way out..don't let your employers to humiliate you.God bless us all.

If all of us employers do our own house work then u maids got no work stay in ur own country & search for stuff fm dump to eat... Maids got no right? U sure or not u shld check wif MOM then....maids are very much protected here compared to employers....maids run away wif boyfren employers got to pay $5,000 to MOM...so u tell me who has more rights...

Ida Zura: Likewise maids shld also stop saying all employers are bad...we pay u to work but some maids tot they r here for holidays

^^^^^^^^^^^^^Maid laced beverages with pesticide, Straits Times, 25 Jul 2014
Unhappy that her employer's daughter had scolded her, a maid decided to take revenge by spraying insecticide into her beverages.

But the 25-year-old daughter got suspicious after her bird's nest and soya bean milk tasted and smelled funny. She sent samples to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, which confirmed the drinks were laced with chemicals.

Yesterday, the 24-year-old maid, Anah Dewi Lanjarsih, was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to committing a rash act to endanger the life of Ms Ng Jia Min. The Indonesian committed the criminal act on Jan 3 as an "act of revenge" for the various scoldings she had received from Ms Ng.

Alone in her employer's home in Serangoon at around 6pm, Lanjarsih took a can of pesticide and sprayed it into the container and carton which contained the drinks, knowing that only Ms Ng would consume them.
Pleading for leniency, her lawyer S. Balamurugan said Lanjarsih acknowledged her act was wrong, but added that she was deeply unhappy and had wanted a change in employers. She felt she had been unfairly treated by Ms Ng and had acted without thinking about the consequences, he added.

Mr Balamurugan said scoldings were given "unjustifiably" for the slightest of mistakes, and that the maid was accused of being "lazy" and "untrustworthy".

The lawyer also gave examples of "demanding" expectations Ms Ng allegedly had of Lanjarsih, including telling the maid not to hang their clothes together, failing which she would be made to wash them again.
According to a medical report from the Institute of Mental Health, Lanjarsih, who came to Singapore last September, has "borderline to low average intellectual functioning" and an inability to communicate in English.
She is expected to be released soon from Changi Women's Prison, considering the more than six months spent in remand, and then repatriated home. The maid, who had no previous convictions, could have been jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^Winter: All those maid-thieves, do they cough out their loot and 'earnings'? To be jailed for only 14 months is really a "steal worth doing!"Indonesian maid jailed for stealing $66k from employer's family, The Straits Times, 21 Jul 2014
A maid who stole more than $60,000 worth of property from her employer's household was jailed for 14 months on Monday.

Indonesian Mellysa, 30, who goes by one name, admitted to five charges of theft from her employer and members of the family at a condominium at Draycott Drive between March and May this year.

Five other charges were considered during her sentencing.

A district court heard that she started stealing shortly after she began working for Madam Karen Yip Ka Ling, 47, early this year.

Maid has only worked 4 months but 'earned' S$66k

Straits Times - Facebook comments
Mitch Oyonoyon: a lesson to be learned, never ever steal... we must be contented on what we have,on how much we earned coz we came here to work for our family back home..

Ali Bakar: ... correct Mitch... i hope ur distractors dont put you off for doing the right thing at all times.... anyway forgive them as they must hv had some unforgivable bad experiences with some bad maids ....good luck to all of u working here for ur family and loved ones back at home.. be good, dont be naughty ok..

John Ng: @Mitch Oyonoyon.....Fully agreed with you, Always remember discontentment will leads to greediness and greediness ruin a person.

Lew Hau Joe: I have hired almost 8 Indonesian maids. 6 of them stole my money, 1 of them run away and 1 of them bring 1 Bangladesh worker back to my house and had sex when all family members were not at home. Problem?

Alison Natalya: Where r the maid protectors? I'm waiting to c wat excuses they have for this maid.

Yogo Mojoo: Many cases of this sort happening but it's so difficult to get these culprits as the laws here are so protective of the maids.Therefore,it has made them so bold while working here.

Nyan Lynn Aung: Alison Natalya please don't put words in my mouth..I don't remember defending THIS particular maid for her wrongdoing..all I said is that employers have a part to play in keeping valuables safe too. If I left my wallet unattended and it gets stolen,legally yes whoever stole it has to be punished..but if I left it unattended and expect it to stay there then I'm being unrealistic..and I will never condone abuse of anyone by anyone..if I have a maid and kids I'll let my kids know that the maid is still their elder and they should listen to her and I'll empower the maid to chide them if necessary but for serious things they'll be instructed to come to us abt it..

Alison Natalya: She stole "more than $60,000 worth of property from her employer's household". Meaning she steals is not money which u can lock in the drawer. She is stealing household stuffs like ur perfume, branded dresses, bags etc, tell me how to make it safe not to let the maid steal?

Adnard Law: 14 mths is too light! Should jail 14 yrs then the maid will think carefully before they steal!

Marilyn Velasco: You can't blame her because the employers don't know how to keep safe the important things yah!

Mark Lim: 14mths? Did she return all 66k or stash in somewhere? If money not recovered means she earn $66k in 14mths? Hahaha that 10 times her salary per mth.

Zion Paras: I've been with my employer for 21 years when I started working with them I always saw money in the masters bed room I know they purposely leaved it there if I'm gonna steal it.and also a $1000 bill when I washing the long pants of Amah. What I can say being a maid honesty is the best policy.

Tang Tan: Stealing is nothing to be proud of . Justice will catch up !

慧雯甄: people who steals should not justify themselves that it's the victims fault.

Serpil Peru: she is steal the money cause she is thief.
bad attitude. thief still thief.

Adnard Law: Spore law is encourage the maid to steal bcoz is too light, deduct holiday less than 14 mths! $66k * 14 = $4714 salary per mth for a Maid!

Jeffrey Tan: Her stealing performance is Better than our maid. Our maid steal $8000 worth of jewelley from us in 20 months times. We found the jewelley hidden in her underwear panty, after she was body-searched by the Maid Agency.

Edmund Leck: Good that one of them were caught . What about the others that got away ? My things were stolen several times by these ppl . Will never trust them anymore

Joey Tan: Judge kelong, only 14 months, bloody blind judge

Patrick Soh: 14 mths jail in spore is heaven to the maid. Eat well, sleep well, and do nothing in jail.. out of jail... got 66k to buy a kampong. Heaven!

What makes an unhappy employer?Of course I know activists will say FDWs are human beings, deserve respect and employers cannot control or interfere with their personal lives. But if this woman is your maid, do you feel comfortable to have her working in your house? I am sure activists will say what's the big deal because these women are not employed by them - no 'injury will be inflicted' on them!

Extracted these from different forums:
MelanieMassang: My helper sleeps before midnight and wakes at 6.30 in the morning on weekdays and 7 on weekends. She sleeps WAY more than I do, and I'm fine with that cause I want a alert and cautious maid to care for my active and curious baby. BUT I just caught her napping this afternoon together with my baby, instead of using the time to do housework.

Her housework is DISMAL. She often mops the floor and leaves the pail of water around the house, letting baby play with it. She can wipe mess off the floor after cooking but leaves the dirty rag where baby can chew. It's not just housework, she has no common sense. When baby was 8 months, she passed a pair of SCISSORS to baby to chew on while she changes her diapers. And recently, she fed baby a piece of bread from the same hand holding a knife.

Her sleeping in the afternoon isn't the first time. And I believe she sleeps for HOURS in the noon. Cause last month, when hubby took half day from work to go see the doc, he went home and saw baby playing in the room by herself, and the maid sleeping on baby's mattress. He was LIVID. What happens if baby puts her finger in the moving fan? what if she chokes on something she left around? What if she fell into the bucket of water she left in the living room? He reprimanded her soundly and made her see the danger she inadvertently put baby in. She was apologetic then, but it's happening again!

I've always wondered why was it that she gets so little work done throughout the whole day. She mops the floor, makes porridge/soup for baby, use the washing machine, hangs the clothes, pack the house... and that's it. Sometimes she doesn't even finish mopping the floor and whenever I go home, the house is in a mess! She always says she's busy with baby and I'm understanding. Now I know the real reason why and I dont't know how to handle this. I dont't make threats for i fear she will take it out on my little girl, i dont't yell and scream cause bad influence on baby, I can't deduct her pay cause it's against the law, I cant give her more work or reduce her sleeping hours cause that's just shooting myself in the foot.

Pocoyo80: I would change the maid straightaway! I will not bear with such mistakes and from your post, she dont seem to care and understand the consequences. I can't stand such nonchalant behaviour. I have employed maid before after I gave birth to my 2nd child. I gave up on maid and now send both my kids to srudentcare. Is tiring to manage housework and look after the children needs but end of the day, I know they are in safe hands. I dont want to b subjected to the mercy of the maids. I have employed 6 maids, transferred, new, experienced maids. I dont trust what they say and I only believed in what I see and hear.

stonston: some of them cant take the stress and strain of taking care of newborn. I picked a maid who is more mature and has a kid herself so she is very patient with my boy.

And sometimes my boy sick, she stay up to look after him, I'll give her permission to nap with my son in the afternoon. My maid wont nap, she'll onli lie down beside my boy when he nap. She just lie there and rest only. she dare not nap even though we gave her permission already.

elainesoh07: I got my myanmar maid 1wk before i deliver my 2nd child till last week than I realise that she had not been using floor cleaner to mop the floor.OMG... all because she dont understand me from the 1st day I told her to do so... Her level of speaking and understanding is only like 20-30% so the rest if she dont understand she will anyhow do.

Best thing you need to do is write down the requirements ask the agent to translate to their language before they proceed to work for you. Most importantly state that they dont't waste food else they will think they can eat half than the rest throw away.

Also make sure to check if they have remove their wisdom tooth else this will be a time bomb for you. My this maid had her wisdom tooth problem 1wk after my confinement half her face swollen and got to send her to dentist but after taking antibiotics the swollen is gone so at the moment no need to extract else need to give her rest plus take care of her. Imagine you have to take care of your kid and your maid....

You guys must let the agent know your requirements if the maid come and dont't fit the requirement change them asap. I feel kanna con cos this maid portfolio states that she is 29yrs but actual age is only 23ys. Though she work as domestic maid in myanmar but she know nuts about housework. I want someone who can cook and she dont't know how to cook at all. portfolio state she eat pork but when she is here she tell me she dont't eat...

Im having lots of problem now but got to bear with it cos she is my 2nd change. might send her back to agent half year later after she complete the loan that she borrowed.

ping26: Some young Indo maids lie about having a child as it makes them more employable. They have ZERO exp with babies. Choose those w at least 2 kids. Bio-datas about Indo employment can also be faked.

I definitely do not recommend transfer maids from swift arrow (yishun). My sis 1st maid was a psycho who drew & showed naked pic to my niece. She has since been passed on to another employer as she has a maid loan. My transfer maid was also fr there. My sis 2nd transfer Filipino maid w attitude problem, left once she realised she could job-hop w/o repercussions. (I leave my baby & maid w my mom at sis place)
= ALWAYS check employment history at MOM website.

joeichen: I have been having pro with maids for the past 2 years.
1st maid - I believe she took foods and sell to others during daytime coz she is left with my elder boy alone. (we r all at work)
2nd maid - She was very good at 1st but after about 2 mths she start all her nonsense. (e.g pull my boy collar, dreaming, no mood to work etc)
3rd maid - when we talk to her she nod but seem like understd. the thing she do is like not done. she give my boy porridge which was not fully cooked. she shower mt boy with cold water.
4th maid - this 1 is the most angry 1. she is recomended by a "friend". I wanted to save $$ for her so i bring her in w/o agent. I send her to the course myself and even let her stay with her sister (who was my "friend"'s maid) for 1 nite. She came less than 2 weeks she say she miss home n want to go back. "How stupid of me!!!!!! waste $$ to bring her in for 'holiday'"

isabelandrew: for the food, i told her im okay. she just need to ask my permission if she wants to try our funny food. some of those, my mother in law special brought from her house one.

i recently bought her a bottle of jam (let her go choose herself at the supermarket). very big appettite, finish within 1 week. recently i noticed the bread like nobody eat. some food stuff which we kept specially for ourselves (not exactly keep but we KIV in the cupboard to eat next time) were all wiped out.

ask her, she never admit. this morning, i caught her red handed scooping lots of milo. in the morning as i woke up really early and quiet. 1st never admit, after that, admit. she knew i damned pissed off. cry a little and kept saying sorry.

this is the 3rd time i caught her within 2 mths. actually food is nothing, cheap. but the act of 'lying' and mis placing my trust is something got me really upset. i also find one shopping bag she kept in her cupboard, inside her clothes. not sure why she needs it though.

I talked to her. She said if steal, mdm and sir will not get angry. If I ask permission, mdm and sir will get angry. My hubby really pissed off and asked her when you never ask, you think we will not get angry? She said 'yes' and my hubby said, is it because we dont't no? she said yes. she some more can tell me coffee she cannot sleep. I told her when I tried to wake her up, she sleep like a pig. She think very long.

I dont't know if they are plain stupid or what. My hubby's conclusion is she has a character issue. You know, when she came, I bought her new clothes to wear at home. She brought lots of jeans to Singapore. God knows why. I think she is not poor, comes with a decent Polo luggage. Well, again. Food is not a pity thing for me. For birthday, I bought her cake and call home.

Last night I asked her - since she like to eat special food so much. She can buy with her salary what. She dont't want! Want to send home - all the money. I dont't understand when I employ a maid - I have to do everything myself? I'm so tired everyday. This fellow dont't cook and has no experience to take care of baby. Some more so picky.

She is a christian also. I asked her what did the bible say about stealing? she can tell me it is a sin. Sigh. Suddenly it seemed that 'we torture' her with no food or limit food. When she can throw away my bread, claiming it was spoilt. Cannot finish rice....

Are maids with young children at home better? What are their expectations? My this maid is very young with no kids and not married...
my mother in law still can tell my hubby and me to forget the incident. it is just food mah.
she dont understand it is the ACT we are upset about. esp she is here to take care of our precious baby.

ping26: I would suggest you change maid as long as you find that she is uninterested in her work, esp if you have young children. Cleanliness, hygiene and safety are paramount. Their behv usu get worse.

Each hsehold has different budgets & values.
I dont't like to be a slave-driver as I like a pleasant home & my baby to be taken care of by a warm & responsible helper.

We sometimes eat expensive stuff. Maid can't be drinking italian coffees, fruit juice & eating my cod fish & salmon daily. Throwing away decent food is a no-no. She is a helper, not my kid. She shldn't be too picky, else she shld work in Muslim homes or stay at home. I take special care that she has "weekly" comfort indo food (such as tempeh & spicy meal) & steady supply of sambal & other snacks & beverages. Cooking personal stuff is supposed to be wkly treat, not daily thing.

I will never agree to naps anymore. I allowed it when I was pregnant. Housework & taking care of a baby isn't that tough, esp if you have scheduled reasonable sleeping hours & tea/snack/rest time. Most stay-at-home mums dont't take daily naps.

My prev maid was plain terrible. She fully exploited the napping & slept almost 2 hours in day sometimes. She "slept" at 9-10pm & woke up at 7.30am! In the day, she looked super-concussed as she had used the phone thro night. She was too tired & distracted to look after my baby & do hsework properly. After she left, I found assam, turmeric pwd & other stuff which I DIDN'T BUY. She had no off-day yet as she hasn't completed our stipulated probation of 1 yr.

She just got worse & worse. I had to grit my teeth & bear w her for almost a month cos my hubby was afraid she may hurt our baby if I corrected her.

By now, my ex-maid is a petty thief (esp food & clothes) & serial liar. I regret not insisting on sending her back & passing on the burden to another Singaporean.

stonston: For your maid, it's definitely a character issue. To me & husband, once you steal, we'll send her back & write to MOE to blacklist. Best if you got evidence (CCTV) and show her & the agent. No choice have to pay for their air tix but you can buy those budget airlines, super cheap type. I normally do not inform them. I just buy the tix, inform the agent. Then on the day that need to go airport, I just ask her to pack 1hr before that, sit there & watch her pack then off we go to the airport.

You should tell your agent she has been stealing food.
For my previous maid, my husband told her that she's a grown woman with kids waiting back home for her to send money back. By stealing, she's setting a bad example for her kids & worse if police is called & she needs to go to jail.

Me & husband preferred Filipino to look after our baby, but ended up getting Indon maid cos all 4 Filipino maids we got 'cannot make it'. Either lie, steal or extremely lazy. And they are smarter, so they try to outwit you. Those from 'kampung' really cannot make it, spoil our electrical appliances even after teaching them 10 - 20 times.

So far my good experiences are all with Indon maids, so we'll stick with Indon maids since language isn't a barrier (we only hire those who have worked in Msia before & can speak English).

winth: I had bad experience with current maid who is only with me for less than 2 months.
1) She went with me to Shichida for a couple of times (not more than 4 times), and I thot it's inevitable that she will have fellow maids to talk to, so I didn't enforce that she cannot talk to people. (But anyway, don't think they will follow such instructions) One maid she talked to told her about all the bad employers (and this maid will be transferred for the third time in 4 months??!!!) and she told my maid to be careful of employers. Even though the maid was good to her employers, the employers will change their attitude after 2 months.

2) Then one other time at Shichida, another maid had her arranged to go to the toilet together, the maid will pass her $$ and my maid is suppose to go 7-11 to buy phonecard for her. I was shocked after she told me.

3) I allowed maid to switch on phone only at night and she has to ask me for permission. One weekend afternoon, while we were out, I saw her SMS-ing and while we were driving, the phone rang suddenly and she talked freely on her phone for like 5 mins. And we seem to be like her chauffeurs, while my boys sat with her. The car braked and stuff but she just held on for her dear life.

4) She will also bring a pen and paper down when we bring her to the park with our children. She will jot down those maid's phone numbers whenever she talk to them.

5) Once, we went grocery shopping. She said she had something to buy (with her own $). I didn't want her to follow me like a shadow too, so I was happy to let her shop by herself and meet at the cashier's. Within seconds, I saw her talking to a fellow Filipino (a hunky guy) and the next minute, they were exchanging phone numbers. She even told me that the guy invited her to his house!!!

Last night, she asked me how come I don't give her allowance (on top of salary) and she hinted to me that she has to get her family to even send her shampoo. Err... not that we never buy her anything, but bec she wants only specific brands of shampoo and body wash. Even her sanitary, she will buy branded. So, we said use your own $ to buy, since she didn't want what we had prepared for her.

Actually, our intention for bringing her out with us was more like to give her some space, some fresh air rather than stay at home all days (since she has no off days). It wasn't so much about taking care of the children as we take care of them very well, without her help. But such bringing her out, actually gave her chance to even interact with maids to such an extent that it made us feel uncomfortable.

I think my quality of life will go up (or at least back to normal levels) after she's gone. Now like bad quality of life, and the house is actually messier (littered with children's toys) and she doesn't pick them up until told.

mintcc: maids are also human. It's only natural that they need to talk to others from their home country.

I don't think the maids will actually not talk to people even if you order them not too anyway, especially to maids of our neighbors or other maids they meet when they are left unsupervised while we accompany or kids for enrichment. I will advise them not to talk to strangers telling them it is dangerous for them as there are a lot of bad people out there. A few months back my maid lent money to the neighbor's maid and could not get it back as the neighbor sent their maids back ...I used it as an example of why she should not lent money to or mixed too much with other maids.

But sometimes, them talking to trustworthy friend's or relative's maids might be useful too. One of my ex maids reveal to my relative's maid that she has a lover in Singapore which confirm our suspicion of her before sending her back to the agent.

Hermes: First maid : Filipino does not do what we ask her and I have to be around in the house and she will do housework.Quality of housework is superficial.I just delivered my first baby and only when my antennae is out,she move a bit but house very dirty.We send back to agent.Maid used to have exp with babies in Saudi.

Second maid : younger Filipino,more compliant but guess she got tired of all the housework and hassle of my few months old baby things,she got homesick.She tried to hide away some money n eventually sent back to country

Third maid : burmese from United Channel Employment from Katong level 2.
Agent very rude and bad attitude after we paid full maid loan and agency fees.Extremely pro maid as their boss is a burmese expariate.This maid very stubborn and lazy and cannot work independently.I have to " babysit" her to ensure she does her housework well.Sometimes,she don't respond when I talk to her or ask her.Agent said if baby fell down not maid fault,cannot blame these maid.If maid forget to turn off tap or make some ice,cannot blame them cos they are poor and have no money eat.I give this maid seafood,fish,veg,meat but she selectively eat veg.Few times did not wash our clothes n very superficial in mopping floor or other housework.Utensils still stain with sauce or food after washing for 5 months.I am tolerant to her for 5 months because I am tired of changing maids.But we give up this maid cos everyday babysitting and watching her is tiring.Worst,her attitude is horrible around 4-5mths with us.

Fourth maid : a replacement from United Channel Employment. Has skin disease and has bad smell.We keep clear of baby from her.Attitude is horrible too as when I tell her about what she does wrongly,she keep saying " no,no" " I don't know" " not me".I give up teaching or talking to her about anything else.She does not feed,bath,help to put baby to nap as after telling her how to,she just come back to tell me baby does not wish to sleep.Cooking,sterilising bottles are done by us too.We go out with baby without her,even to supermarkets.Agent this time round does not answer my calls.

Agent said burmese maids are obedient and hardworking and it is not true. Their pride and stubborness is the silent type compared to filippinos who throw their temper. Even with timetable, they will find excuse saying forget to do.
FDW are not short term or long term solution for us. More pros in getting filiippino if you have babies or young children cos they are more flexible and english is better than Burmese who think as highly as themselves like some filippinos but actually cannot communicate and do what we ask them to.Very poor english and you can vomit blood when u ask them do something diiferent from mopping or washing dishes.Although burmese maids will say yes yes to you when you ask them they understand what to do, they do something else weird after.
For babies and younger children families, please do not risk having them around.For the work that the 4th maid is doing,a twice weekly partimer can do her work and it cost lesser and cleaner.
We have to feed them with one pkt 3 in one coffee,3meals rice,complusory 8hours sleep daily,according to United Channel Employment agent and agent has the right to spot check our house to see that their maids are well off !!!! As a mother and with looking after my baby,feeding,bathing, changing diapers, sterilising, cooking dinner,I even have to skip my own lunch cos burmese maids don't how they have to cook meals for us!!!

I hope those employing maids can weigh carefully about having them about the pros and cons.

EN: Mine just left 2 weeks ago after she serves her 2 years contract. She does ease of my burden, nice to my kids, does not steal (very important), does chit chat with neighbor's maid but she done it in moderation. But the thing that I can't stand is there is simply too much damage equipment, lost/ruin clothing, badly dented walls & full of scratches floor. The house looks untidy although it is clean. Now maidless, the house looks tidier.

winth: EN, This sounds very familiar. You know, my house was actually tidier without the maid. Now, with the maid, everything's everywhere. My toddler managed to throw so many toys into the fountain than when there was no maid to look after him.

And when the maid is gone (in another 3 weeks' time), we will need to replace the electric kettle, the clothes hanging station, repair the tap and of course, buy more bowls and plates. Plus all the torn clothes she managed to destroy in just a few washings?Having maids isn't so cheap after all. There's so much hidden cost inside.

Hermes: Most maids come with expectation that they live like us,eat like us,use the things that we use.But they have to earn our trust and their keep before we can consider giving them all these fringe benefits as they are never written in the contract. My experience is that even after giving them these extras, they may not appreciate. It is like they are kings in our households,afraid they may take it out on our children or old folks someday and we live under their noses.I don't believe in scolding cos afraid they take it out on my baby (even with our webcam,when damage is done,is there any use of them in jail?).

winth: Hi, let go of my maid much earlier than planned. The final straw came when I woke up whole body full of rashes from contact with the bedsheets I slept on. My cheeks to my chin, both hands, back of neck is red and swollen. The areas which were covered by my pyjamas were fine. My hubby who slept with long sleeved pyjamas was fine, except for some red rash on his cheeks.

Got so angry that I decided to end the agony that day. Gave her an hour to pack up and she left to the agency. Flight's the next morning at 630am.

Total Cost of Having Maid
1. Paid S$1200 (upfront of 3 months to agency, used her only 2 months and 3 days)
2. Government Levy
3. 3 full meals (bought 3 packs of 10kg rice in the short span of 2 months)
4. Water bills up by a shocking 40%
5. Unclean clothes (hers are very clean bec she used full tank of water for quarter pail of clothes)
6. Medical Bills (children went to see doc and found to have 'poison' grown on their head due to wash improperly & now it's me for the rashes)
7. Air Ticket (S$330)
8. Fee to bring maid to airport (S$60)
9. All the unnecessary stress and worries
Conclusion - It sure is not cheap to have a maid!!! Pls think many many times before hiring a maid.

SunShine07: My sis, got a ex sg maid. Worked for 3 yrs in sg already. Very jia lat! The agent claim that she is very good, even check with the previous employer also say she is very good. But my sis found out a lot of things from her recently.

My sis thinks she sleeps with other man outside. Seen the photos taken in a hotel before. And she is very good actor,in front of us she act very innocent and we all thought that she loves kids a lot, but is totally opposite. She lie many times to my sis (when my sis spot check on her, called and tested her, she lie) and many more. LIke to gossip about my maid also. Keep trying to tell us that she is better than my maid. Nowsday, maid are also very smart, not last time ~

ping26: Pls send her back if there's no loan as maid contract usu stipulates you r not supposed to jeopardise re-employment chances. Just book air-ticket & inform the agent. Cancel the work permit on day of departure so that you dont't have to pay levy. Arrange for new maid to come on same or next day.

There are enough of these errant job-hoppers & agents in Singapore. Change yr agent too.
As her crime is just stealing food & tardy attitude, I wouldn't make her pay for air ticket or send to embassy.

BTW my prev maid is supp to have a kid & worked for 2 hseholds w kids, incl a stint in Arab. She prob cooked my codfish w assam for herself. She also had the cheek to tell me she ate my ice-cream. She may have stolen cash too. I'm quite sure she left my house w/o permission. I'm still mad after 3 mths. I have not even told you about how she "cleaned" the house & "took care" of baby. How could I have been so sotong (not soft-hearted) as to pass this thing to another person? Agent had assured me "no kids". Turned out to be a sick person who'll prob be more ignorant than me.

Bottomline - dont't consider those can't complete a 2-yr contract. They have character problem. don't get one of same size. Ex-maid stole 2 bags of old clothes & bags/stuff. I found my clothes hanging nicely in her cupboard. Given time, she'll wear my clothes and try cosmetics.

Dont let your maid know about change at all. I don't want to say this but some maids are stupid. My hubby's colleague's dog got murdered by maid cos she didn't want to take care of it. It died of strangulation, hanging fr leash in lift door. She pretended it got caught by lift doors but never let go of leash. Recently, an Indo maid was in papers for stabbing employer's 7-yr-old.

Jan: I have sent my maid back to her country yesterday. To be brief, I actually sent her back to the agent and bought her air ticket and got the agent to sent her to airport on Sunday morning.

My maid was caught going out of the house without informing me. I think she never expect me to be back so early (before 9pm). So when she opened the door and saw me standing in front of her, she got a shock of her life. She even dare to lie that she went to meet her cousin and we also found out she is holding 2 handphones.

On her first day of work, i already emphasize no handphone and kept her phone which she declared. It was only after 1 or 2 mths and being kind, I decided to return her handphone to her as I know her kids pictures and she will like to look at it.

Then few weeks later, she received a letter from her cousin who is working her and her kind cousin actually gave her a prepaid sim card and she asked to keep as the letter claim the value is less than $5, so being out of good heart, we allowed.

We never expect to have so many problems. When I found out she owned 2 handphones, she can still tell me she scared I might take away her the other handphone. So when we asked why she never informed us that she went out, she said her cousin message her last mins and claimed her cousin only wanted to meet her for 5 mins. My hubby demanded her to show him the message and she took the phone and search but later claimed she had accidentally deleted it. This time my hubby really boiled, he shouted at the top of his voice and claimed that she was trying to play tricks and games. I asked her to pass me the handphone and actually screen through the phone and I immediately spotted her phone no. with the name as "DARLING". I question her immediately who is this Darling and why is the no. a Singapore Tel no. Is her hubby workin in SG or what. She claimed this is a wrong no. this is really BEST... wrong no. yet still label as darling... May I know who will label a wrong no. as DARLING?

So the next day, she worked as normal and my hubby was actually gathering evidence of her deeds as we strongly believe she was seeing a man. So after we settle our son to his afternoon nap, we questioned her again. And during this time, several message came in with addressing like "Darling, anything happne?" Dear, why you never call me. I missed you" blah blah blah... We told her I am going to call her cousin employer to tell her employer her cousin actually got so many boyfriends... and if i found out anything that she is lying, i will not think twice to send her away and she will also get her cousin to be in deep shit. My hubby also stressed to her that we have found out the truth but we wanted her to confess and we are willing to give her another chance... so finally she admitted that her meeting the previous night was actually a man. And she got to know this man because of another WRONG NO. phone call and this man requested to meet her... And their meeting is actually at the void deck of my blk. My hubby and I realised we can't kept her anymore, so the following day... we went to the agency and reported her case to the agent and at the same time looking for a replacement maid.

chachaleo: i have spoiled my current maid n both me n hubby want to change a new maid but still hesitating cos i dont have anybody at hm except maid n my boys so really need somebody trustworthy. As for my current maid she really gone overboard with the things she reply or argue..simply no respect for us.

to use the hp when im back hm she can excuse for a few mins to make phone call..but she use behind my back i knew..but i just keep quiet. N later she can openly admit she did use..but she just keep quiet after that n pretend nothing happen. so that's y it's really diff to 'maintain' unless you r stay at hm mum can supervise. Even when my mum arrives to visit my kids when im not around ..she openly text her hp. now my kids piggy bank has discrepancies..im thinking of using a hidden camera to check what's going on.

Before my maid arrives, my mentality is already 'as long as my kids r safe nthing happens to them, close my eyes to watever' even my agent asks me to b realistic when it comes to hving a maid. that's y i have been treating her very well when she first arrives. it's only when i come across things which i have been repeatingly tell her that i have to tell her off..she gets defensive n raise her voice at me. Whoa i can tell you. im so angry and best thing is she does not apologise n just keep quiet.

I must admit i do raise voices to her when im really fed up w what she did but she will raise her voice to retort back..she's very defensive n prideful to apologise (this is what i dislike about her). Otherwise i must say she can handle my kids quite well. If not for this, i have already send her back. Before renewing her i have been debating whether to renew her contract and i eventually did so becos i thought i can 'tahan' her attitude but few mths later same thing happen.

candy_ian: i just sent my maid back about a month ago, she was with us for about 4 months after the previous maid had some issues with her family back home we got this new one. she looked younger than 23 yrs old n first day she came i showed her a timetable for her to follow n basically only housework cos i'm not working n i'll b taking care of dear son and not even sterilizing bottles as i'm bfding. she ate what we ate bought her slippers n clothings when she came in cos she had pathetic clothings. paid for her toiletries n my mum would give her like $5 each time we go over her place. The hari raya came and she told me her family back hm no money for celebration so i told her i intend to give her $50 red packet n $50 from my mum but if she were to sent it back minus the remitting fees is nothing much but i can lend her money to send back first since she's still paying her loan. so i lent her $200 plus the $100 from su to send back home. from then on her attitude change she don't do her housework properly n she slps at 9pm and wakes up at 7am. things not clean bowls with soap omg.. i ask her she told her cos i'm not watching so anyhow do.. that's when i decided to send her back cos i think with her i'll have to watch her and get angry everyday might as well i do things on my own. so i really dunnoe if we treat then well they may not return our kindness

evimt30: my maid, indon recently (2 weeks ago) said want to change employer.
when i asked her what happened, she just told me that cause she always do mistake.work for 7th months and doing the same mistake cause when we told her.. she didnt really listen.
it's like not serious in working... or she did listen but go in right ear, come out left ear..

i havent say she not good and fire her. she already fire me first and furthermore she steal food and eat really alot. can see that she gained weight.

pipilili: Actually what I am truely concern with is the COST OF MAIDS, AGENCY COST these days. Why are their salary increasing faster than inflation rate? Is that right? The govt did provide us various options to take care of infants/children/ elderly etc... which is very good. But the bad thing is they just give you w/o doing QC. (ie: childcare are not cheap to send your infant or children to these days. as for maids - we have problems w maids too, esp when we need to blend them into our family culture + at the same time make sure they are mentally sound. Sometimes SG also need to learn from other countries - see what others are doing, and take in the good practice and dump the lousy practices.

carolchng: I feel that nowadays, as an employee at work, i have to tolerate my boss and when i am at hm, as an employer, i have to tolerate my employee's nonsenses also!!!
Despite treating my helper so good and we keep accommodating to her, she ask me if she can work until feb coz she is applying to go Norway to work but her contract only expire on july.
But this morning, my aunty told me. my helper ask if we want to renew her contract or not. If we want to renew her, pay her salary of $550 monthly then she will stay.

pipilili: My cousin's maid is something like your maid. She is demanding $550/month if they are going to renew her contract. She make it sounds like she is very marketable. I told my cousin not to be so stupid....our money also not easy to earn, I cannot imagine paying my maid $550/month, and on top of that give her bonus!

Some maids seem to be here on holiday! Can demand this and that! I wish they can think about how to get the job done well, then think about REWARDS.

Angel: MOM should also consider adding a clause for the well-being of employer ....
by law:
1) maid must shower daily and wash her own clothes. Keep herself clean, hygienic and looked pleasant - dont torture the employer and family.

Recently somebody asked me how to handle her fresh maid who doesn't bathe nor wash her clothes for 3 days. Friend asked me, is this a way of trying to make employer unhappy so that maid can leave the house at the expense of the employer? Is this a way to 'escape' looking after the children or household duties as people dont dare to stand near her? We were told maids have their human rights, they are not slaves, must respect them .... Worst, stole employer's deodorant and perfume to make herself smell good. When caught, said employer ought to provide her with such necessity ??!!??

2) Fresh Maids cannot keep comparing salary and ignore the salary and tasks agreed via agency. Everything outlined, interviewed and role explained before employment must be carried out as per contract. If want to break contract to jerk up salary or blackmail for more off days, they must pay employer 2 months salary as punishment for being irresponsible and causing unnecessary inconvenience to the poor employer. Maid job hop, agency earn 1 to 2 months new placement fee. What about us? We only stand to lose. Real example, after working 2 days, Myanmar maid found Indonesian got higher pay, she said to employer, no pay increment, send me back to agency. Worry encounter such bad and irresponsible maids ... they are so common nowadays. Who's taking care of our well-being/welfare? Do I really had to stay home again if one day, I can't find a real helper? How to work with peace of mind if MOM doesnt help employers who were not at fault, especially those who hired maid due to special needs family members?

yvonne_ktw: HOUGANG GREEN HOME. Mine is aunty cecilia See, dont look for her.
First, i insist she give me a definate answer how much loan remain for the transfer maid i've choosen but she can't give(she claim dont't have yet) but i know my hubby character so i must give him an answer so i keep asking cecilia and in final she say "confirm" less than $500 many times i asked. But when reach home she call and say it's $800. I'm very unhappy cause my hubby sure screw me.... I asked her very nicely first why it's $800 you say "confirm" then she say no , i didn't say confirm i say plus minus $500 but after that she get her management to solve my terms to them.

1week later i call and wanted to ask previous employer contact from her to ask more detail of my maid. I wanted to call previous employer to understand how my maid work from her house so that i can understand better and adjust her over here, she's nice at first.. "xiao mei" whats wrong... then we chat and i told her what i encounter. She dont't wanna give me previous employer contact cause she say she know as it's her friend and she answered my question about maid. Then she request pass phone to maid and she counsel her. As i did and i heard my maid didn't say anything only "yes""ya""ok" then pass me back n cecila say, maid say wanna go back. Why not you pay another $100 for agency fees and get a Philipino maid.

Then, i say huh? she say she wanna go back? You sure she say that? "she very sure" Then we start aruging and cecila say: since you bueah gum with her it's better she leave when the new maid cum.
After hang up, i asked the maid. you dont't wanna work for me? you wanna go home? Maid say no, i didn't say cecilia just ask me wait for your new maid cum and she send me home indo then i say oh, ok.

Yesteday she called and say your maid passport is ready, come and take , i reply ok will arrange. she say, we cannot keep too long for you this kind of things. I replied, no one call me say it's ready. she say, ya now i'm calling you to tell you it's ready. (hmm.. i just dont like the way she speak it's like my fault for keeping the passport there for a long time already or i'm just too sensitive because i alreayd have bad thinking of her )

I'm very angry with cecilia because
1) she claim she want to counsel maid but ended not
2) It's not the 1st time she twist her words
3) She have atitude problem. So, her after sales srevice is sux, before you sign/pay $ she very nice n smile tell you this very good, trust aunty etc..i will not bluff you xiao mei.. but after i sign and pay $ diff attitude .
4) She's a bad agent i feel because i didn't say i wanna reject this maid at all or the maid did not say she dont wanna work and she straight ask the maid go back indo.

Emm398: I just tried a maid - very good cook and very clean with housework - but she doesn't want to work for me. I made the mistake of asking her to handwash the clothes when she first came and that day, I happened to have twice the amount of clothes I normally have because my son returned from a 3-day camp and she got frightened. By the way, I have four children - from 12 to 22 years old. Even though I assured her that I would let her use the washing machine but she still had to rinse, soak and rub the clothes before putting them in the washing machine and she had to rinse 3 times by hand, she did not want to give my family a second try. She said she wanted to go back to the agency. Also, I trained her more than usual when she first came - asked her to cook 3 meals a day when she first came and tried to also train her to clean the house. I think she thought she could not manage. Actually, it was only the first day of training. Thereafter, she could plan her work so that it would not be so tiring for her. I am very particular about cleanliness, by the way - I think my standards frightened her.

lifestylelink: this is the 3rd time when a situation happen and she should be calling me to check which she did not. She is just plain stubborn and refused to obey my instruction. She think she very clever and takes thing into her own hand.

Mistake 1:
Rice run out. My MIL told her to call me she ignored. Next morning she told me to give her the money, she will go buy the rice. I wish she is that capable but she get lost the minute she step out of my house!

Mistake 2:
On monday this week, my son was not well in the morning. I called home late morning, she said nothing. She waited till I reach home at night then she told me. I asked her why tell me so late, she said don't want to disturb me when I at work. But I told her repeatedly that she can call me anytime and assured her that I will not be angry with her.

Hermes: I had 4 maids previously and 3 out of 4 are very stubborn. Like to open the door to strangers and the last one sneak out when I am not in to look for telephone to chitchat with her so call singapore sisters.very fishy. i check on her telephone nos and all are maids with hps who has been working here for yrs. When asked the maid if she went out,she deny and even say she like to open and see if outside children come home from school and she even cried.
For someone who worked 7 months with you and repeated ignored instructions that she can understand, time to let go.

ping26: I have placed a few transfer maid ads in some websites. I received a reply from a Filipino who was "attracted" by the job scope. She works for childless PR couple who have a few cats.
She has a great life - she earns extra bucks by cleaning for MANY expats in the condo. She was desperate as her employers will be repatriated soon.

I wonder why MOM allows childless couples to pay the same levy as families. Surely, these people do not require maids. Their needs cannot be compared to SG families who have old folks & young children. This is one instance which I think PAY-AND-PAY govt needs to do its part.
One single maid who has nothing to do, is taking away at least 5 jobs from locals. In that case, their employer should cough up more levy for govt piggy bank. If they have to pay $500 as maid levy, they'll hire local cleaners & pet sitters. And the maids will appreciate that they're not here on holiday.

Excited Mummy: I wonder how the govt can tweak the current policies so that the situation can be improved.
The agencies make the employers pay for the maid's loan once the maid is confirmed.
I think there should be shared responsibility such that both the employers & the agencies pay 50% of the loan, or the employer pays the loan in staggered amts so that we are not held at the mercy of the agencies.

My hubby & I decided to have a Burmese domestic helper as Indonesian govt keeps on changing rules & I can't speak Bahasa. We are not keen on Filipino maids as they can be quite hard to handle, will speak you more and want off days, hp etc. However, my Burmese helper some times drives me up the wall too!

On last Sun, she demanded for her salary from me when she had only worked for less than 2 weeks with us! I told her we had paid her loan of 7 mths to the agency on her behalf. I was so upset (worsened by post-natal blues) that I called my hubby who rushed home. Called the maid agency who got the translator to talk to her & explain clearly. The maid said it was her sister who asked her to ask. Hubby should not have made the calls for her to Myanmar & Malaysia using his handphone. She eats a lot too... 7 slices of bread & thick milo for breakfast. 3 bowls of rice during lunch / dinner. We allow her to eat as much as she wants. But she is very no "automatic". Hubby told me he would be home late, so I ate first, then asked maid to scoop rice and leave some for Sir. She scooped a lot for herself, and left very little for my hubby. In future, if hubby is coming home late, I must ration her portion of rice.

In her biodata, she stated she is willing to take care of newborn, willing to go without handphone. Guess what, in less than 1 wk, she asked me if she could have a handphone after 6 mths. She also said she would want to work in Malaysia after her 2-year contract as her sister & auntie are there. Hubby has a uncle with a Burmese maid - mother in law called her to talk to our maid. Our maid complains that she has to wake up at night to look after baby when he cries - changes diaper, milk. My hubby & I also wake up at night when baby cries. In fact, we ask the maid to sleep at 9am. She wakes up at 7+am. Both hubby & I zzz at midnight or even later to tend to baby's night feed first. I even allow the maid to take afternoon nap but she didn't say that to hubby's uncle's Burmese maid! 1st time getting a maid. Now I know why hubby said cannot spoil them!

I had to tell her to take in the laundry or she would not do so. The other day, I asked her to take afternoon nap & when it rained heavily, she didn't even realise. Today, I saw the grey sky & heard thunder, I quickly asked her to take in the clothes. She was sitting in baby's room and was in a daze... very stone and blur.

Ljas1370: Emelita Baruna Artap is a great liar. Before I employed her, I told her that I don't allow my maid to carry Handphone. She said OK that's why I employ her. On the second day, she requested me to buy Handphone. Reason given she wants to call back home to report her safety. I told her first time I will allow her to use my home phone to call which she did. After calling, she started to cry. When I asked her why, she refused to tell. Very emotional maid. She eats alot. I don't mind her eating if she works. But she still have the cheek to complaint to the Agency that I'm not giving her enough food. I eat 3 meals per day. She eats 5 meals per day.

In the morning when she wake up, she took breakfast at my house before doing housework. When I go to work I put her and my son at my mother-in-law's (MIL) house. My MIL told me she took breakfast again at 10 something in the morning followed by lunch, tea-break in the after and then dinner. She still crumbled not enough food to eat. Unfortunately, my house do not have the habit of eating super. She even complain to the agency I did not pay her monthly salary of $20. I told the agency she owing me money how to pay her salary. When we go to the supermarket, she asked to buy biscuits, noodles. I told her no problem but she has to eat when I buy for her. I eat household brand which is NTUC noodle. But she chose a much more expensive brand of noodle and also biscuit. I told her if she chose the more expensive brand she has to pay herself. If I as an employer I can get household brand I don't see why she cannot eat. She wants to eat all the good stuff. In the end she paid herself. She told my MIL her slipper is spoilt and got no more shoes. Out of pity, my MIL bot her a pair of shoe. When she left, I saw 2 pairs of shoes in her luggages and another 2 pairs of her own slippers outside my shoe cabinet. What a Liar.

Also she has high esteem and ego. She told me her husband daily salary is only S$3/-. When we went to the supermarket, she wanted to buy a pkt of envelopes cost $3/- per pkt which she asked me to deduct from her salary. I told her she can choose the plain white envelope which cost $0.90/- and I'll help her to get some airmail label from the post office to stick on it. She said OK but she complained to my hubby that I don't let her buy the expensive brand. I was so angry by helping her to save money she accused me of not letting her buy what she wants to buy.

She was also approached by my neighbour's maid to work in HK which promised double salary her. When I sent her back, I check all her things in the lugguage, I saw she wrote a note to the agency asking the agency to help her find a job in HK. I find that all these maids are simple-minded. If HK is so good, my neigbour's maid will be the first to go. Am I rite??? What I understand from my HK friend, in HK althought the maid get double the pay here ($680 - $700) but the employer does not provide accomodation. So these maids have to look for their own accomodation which is very expensive. In the end still come back to square one. I heard in HK, if the employer doesn't like the maid they can kick the maid out of the house and also dump their belongings outside the house. But you can't do this in Singapore or risk our $5000 bond. hahaha

tamarind: Many maids do not have any common sense, don't expect them to know what is right or wrong.

As employers, it is very important that we tell the maid what is the correct behaviour expected in our household. It is best to come out with a list of houserules for the maid, so the maid knows what is expected of them. Every household is different, what is acceptable in one household, may not be tolerated in another household.

I always think that it is a bad idea for employers to allow their maids help themselves with the food. If the maid eats the same food as the employer, the employer should always take out a reasonable portion of the food for the maid. I have heard of maid who cooked 5 fish for the family, then ate 4 fish by herself. The employer was unhappy with the maid, but then why allow the maid to have the freedom in the first place ?

ping26: Does anyone's burmese maid like to go bra-less? Mine walks around bra-less in the morning (6-8am) & after the night shower. I got a shock a few times when I went downstairs & found her in tank top only. Have told her to cover up before. Imagine if it was my hub who went down.

Maids will say anything to get hired. Govt doesn't care about their promises.

peapot: My previous maid don't wear bra when she sleeps at night. Her bra will be on the floor. she wears it back in the morning. I m ok with it but my colleagues thought I was crazy to allow it. So, I guess its really different house different rules.

Now I m stricter with my current maid. She will be leaving soon. So when the new maid comes, I m laying out all the rules again and will make her sign.

I also let my current maid choose her off day. Anyway, after she leaves she wants to come back as S pass. I m not sure if she can come back as S pass. I worry because she has many of my daughter's photos which she took secretly. Actually I prefer she works for another family to know that other family can be stricter than me then she will appreciate working for me. I hope she don't use any of my daughter photos when she comes back as S pass.

RamblingMummy: My 2nd maid (Indonesian) also gave an attitude. Whenever we told her how to get things done the way we want it, she will say we can send her back if we were not happy with her work. So one day, I cancelled her work permit. Bought the air ticket, sent her back to her home country. I didn't send her back to agency as I know agency will just find another employer and the poor employer will get the same attitude from this maid.

No doubt i lost money, but I i rather she not work for another family here in SG especially if it involves caring for little children, like she did mine. I was told by my niece that she bathed my 1 yr old daughter, didn't wipe her dry, put the diaper on and left her crawling around in the diaper with the fan on full blast. When my niece told her to put the clothes on as my girl will get cold, she told off my niece by saying that she should mind her own business.

Sad thing about us here is that, we have to depend on maids to help us out. But if only we can get good maids who can really care for our kids. Ppl who do not know think that we are fussy employers and ill-treating our maids. But if only they can see the reality of the situation.

Excited Mummy: Initially, the maid had been sharing same food as me, like the expensive threadfin, quality pork etc. But after a while, we decided that she is too expensive to maintain if she eats the same confinement food as me, and we started to buy some other food for her, like other fish, etc.

Sigh... really must be careful. I used to let her sit at the same table to eat with us... But really, as what my hubby says, we cannot spoil the maids. Give them an inch, they want a foot.

ping26: my sister's maid posted a boyfriend advertisement on the kitchen window. she also posed in underwear for construction workers across the road to take pix. She emailed the pix to MOM. She then repatriated the maid.

Diveera: it is never easy to get a decent maid. This is my 4th maid and I thought I was overly strict and have too high expectation with my previous maids. Thus for this one, I take a diff. approach by being firm and more relax/accommodating on small little things and as the months goes.
She is with me for 7 mths already. I told her off last Fri for not following instruction and putting blame on my mischief dog. She wasn't happy and when I gave her chance to speak up.. she can answered me that "I'm not happy with her... I can do whatever I want.... I asked her to explain what she means. she said "you not happy with me, you can send me back to the agency"!
On Sun we were rushing to go out so I packed my daughter's bag instead of waiting for her to do so. When we are outside and it's time to make milk, the water in the thermal flask was warm but not hot enough. When I asked her why, she answer me back saying "mdm, you didn't change the water in the thermal flask?"

Kelly80: Previously I hire a maid who work for me 3 days n decide want get trf. I lost levy n one month salary. Is the maid insist want trf n not I dont't want her. This maid agency called me n told me the maid want work with me n is I don't want her, after the maid being council. This is bull shit. I told the agent, I will go down to their center n confront with her. Later, the agent said no need. My husband send the maid back to agent n the maid admit she not comfortable work with us. My house is simple n my children in child care full day. She said, she don't like use hand to wipe floor. We did not use mop to wipe floor. Maybe she is fat n complain back pain at the 2nd day. Next time, I will not hire short n fat Indonesia maid.

sevencat: I am a first time FDW employer. Have never read up on any maid related topics before because I thought I have heard enough of warnings and complaints from colleagues and experienced friends. I thought by treating the maid like a friend/ family member without giving orders, things would be good.

7 months has passed with many proofs (I have cctv around the home) and bad experiences to force me into getting her out. Actually, it should be done earlier but I keep giving chances and counselling after counselling. After what I have done, I think I am so naive!

Her job scope:
To clean the house when not taking care of 2 kids, in primary and kindergarten.
Need not cook because we tried letting her and her hygiene level fails so my mum cooks for whole family plus maid.

- after picking up child from kindergarten, she brought him to the mall instead of taking the route we taught. 10 mins journey turned 30 mins. When questioned, she said my kid wants to go there. We are very clear to her that she should not make any other decision herself without seeking our approval. This causes my mum to search for them around the neighbourhood. Ever since, my mum dare not let her go alone.
- never report to me that my kid was not eating the food I prepared for school. She just ate the food herself. Until one day, I was at home and check my kid's lunchbox.
- utensils/ water bottle are soapy or with food stains after wash. Water bottle was filled with bubbles when I poured water in. Warnings and demo given more than thrice. To date, we have to rinse the utensils before use. But what about those that she served my kids directly? I can't check when I am not at home.
- detected 4 different facebook accounts under her real names and nicknames. All with raunchy photos of herself only and digitally edited photos of her face and another Pinoy man's face onto a random couple hugging photo. That man is engaged to another woman. I am not sure why she edited so many photos of herself with this man.
1) Mhallin N. Marzo
2) Mhallin Marzo
3) Marilyn Negranza Marzo
4) Marilyn Marzo
- fall asleep at work
- write many notes containing complaints and hatred towards my mum and me when mum feedbacks her work attitude or mistakes she made. My mum is spending more time with her and she got to let me know so that I can correct the maid. Mum never talk/ scold to her directly due to language barrier. Mum even give her lots of clothes to wear. We all treat her well because she handles our kids. No employer dare to fool/ ill treat maid around when kids are at stake right?
- rush housework when nobody requires her to finish work at designated time. End up all cleaning are done badly. Mopping floor is just wetting the floor.
- When my kid show kid's tantrum, she can't handle, she just sit on the floor and ignore the kid and do nothing, even when my mum is around. But if I am around, she will not dare to do this.
- She argued with me on how to do household chores when I showed her my way of cleaning which proves her to be effective. She always claimed things cannot be cleaned, but I proved to her by doing it in front of her.
- Caught red handed for a thing that was not allowed in our home. She just hide in her pillow when I talk to her without even lifting her head to listen to me and talk properly to me. Even with CCTV, she still do those things, wonder if there is no CCTV, things would be more obnoxious.
- spoilt a few items by not listening to our instructions and just use plain force.
- use "post letter" or buy phonecards as excuses to leave the house on working days when I am not around, only target to ask my husband / my mum. But she goes to the market every morning with my mum which already allows her to post letter. She even leave my mum's side in the market to buy clothes and accessories.

xmasbaby: Was told by Agency maid worked in SG for about 4 years before we employed her. Sneaked out from the house when employer were away to go shopping or meet BF. Despite many warnings and given many chances, she repeated her mistake and gave many excuses. Final straw was she was caught sneaking out of the house without permission when the employer was working, leaving the main door unlocked with 7 months old baby and a dog unattended with running pots on the stoves. On the way to the maid agency, she had tried to run away twice and put a struggle when caught. In order to avoid the same plight to other future employer, we decided to have her repatriated.

allseasons: Last month our family came back from holiday and found out that our maid (now ex-maid) was prostituting herself in our apt when we were away. This was not the first time we left her alone in our apt. She already with us for many years, and we trusted her - treated her like our own family.

The night when we came back, I accidentally passed by her bedroom, and saw many evidences (condoms, sorry to say it frankly). I asked her and she admitted herself doing it. Moreover, one of the guy is our neighbour. I checked her handphone, and found more evidences. Can't take it anymore, and sent her back home two days after that. I am sure she will come back to work again, as her husband was jobless at her hometown and waiting for her to send money back.

After sending her back home, when I showered my eldest son ( 5 y.o)he told me all the ill treatment he got when my maid took care of him and his younger brother.

sweetyme4uall: I tried my best to teach cleaning and basic cooking like making rice, daal ect.for more than a month .for more than 15 days she didn’t even touch any work, just sit and eat.
Still she didn’t even learn and ready to learn anything .any time if i ask her to learn properly she said “if u don’t like me send me back”.
Till date she doesn’t fallow her cleaning work,.keep gas always open.Don’t want to learn, very very lazy, always have some answer to give u ,ready to fight all the time. still i manage till this time b’cas of my condition ,and our money with her agent .i called him for cancelling first he didn’t reply after many days send his assistant who talk with the maid,but even after this no use.very much abusive in her language.

Only once i keep my kid alone with her for 3hrs and ask her to feed him. After coming back at 11pm my kid was so hungry .she eat herself. She told me that”i ask him to eat but he says no”I ask her why didn’t u feed him, give me smile and says “next time”.
Once he was got out of sleep and i was in toilet ,he was crying badly for 15-20 min she was standing and watching him cry.
After asking answer was “ i ask him to come to me he is not coming.”Never look after my son in play ground, instead just stand and watch or talk to other maids etc.
I did not imaging a mother of 4kids can behave like that. she don’t know anything about handling ,feeding, bathing kids.
-always lie about anything ,even it is very small.
-run away from work.
-externally shameless, and have no fear, even after scolding keep wearing revelling cloths.
-and just now we discover that she take money and gifts from an 65-70 yrs old man,and do “something” with him under the stairs, at his home. She meet that man when i took her to look after my son to playground .And all this she manage to do when she goes for dropping and fetching my son for his school bus. always come 30-35 min .late ,and tell me she was taking walk.
-she uses my earrings ,pins etc without permission.
-she theft an MRT card out of my friends pocket in her home, just in front of us, and we didn’t even come to know for 2-3 days.
-she tries to talk with men’s if front of me in playground ,many of them r ignore her and go.
After scolding she smiles.
-like to sleep 3-4 hrs in afternoon, i allow b,cas there is no work at that time.
She loves to say “i forget, next time, if u don’t like me send me back can’t do,i don’t know etc etc”
-never fallow instructions, always do what she wants’ to .keep repeating mistakes, no use of telling her.
-she live like owner at ur home ,take anything ,never need permission.
-very well read and know about all her rights and rules in Singapore ,only once i forget to keep keys with her ,and then she show us some govt. Paper written that i cant lock her.She want to to treat her like princess, but she herself never fallow any rules.

heavenzstz: My fantastic maid came and this was what happened during the 7 months she was with me:
1st month, 2nd week: complained and said want to go home cos nothing to do. (Cos she can finish cleaning my whole flat within 2 hours)
1st month, 3rd week: complained and said want to go home cos mam gave her too many things to do. (Cos she does not clean all the places that she thinks we can't see, e.g. under the table, under the bed, if there are things on the table, no cleaning, etc.)
1st month, 4th week: complained and said want to go home cos mam shouts at her.
We brought her to the agency and she told the agent: She wants to go home cos we dont't want her. ?????
Agent told us to give her another chance, so we gave in.

For the records, once she was here, she was given her OWN room (We stay in a 4-room flat), OWN cabinet, shampoo, towel, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary pads... and was told that if she need more, she can just ask from us. CNY brought her out to eat sharks fins. We let her eat everything that we eat.

2nd month every week: Wants to call home IMMEDIATELY regardless what you are doing. I can be changing my baby's diapers, and she can be standing next to me, and told me want to call home, and she wants me to give her the phone immediately (I do not have a house phone). Gave in once, twice, and we made her wait according to our time.

3rd month: Told Sir that she wants a handphone. Want Sir to buy for her.

7th month: Shouted at me when I showed her the dust in the baby's room. My husband was shocked. She screamed and shouted that the dust flew in and she has cleaned in the morning. Then threatened again and again that she wants to go home. It was only until my husband told her to stop lying as the layer of dust was quite thick that she kept quiet.
I called the agent, and the agent scolded her. She was then made to apologise to me, and made to stay until she finishes her loan by the agent.
Of cos her apology was damn unhappy and even ended with : I will go home once I finish the loan.
I shut her off by saying I am the boss, so you go and work when I tell you to work.

Recently, she treated me as invisible. If I come back home carrying a lot of stuff, she won't take anything from me. When my husband is around, she will automatically take from my husband. There was 1 day when I went out with my mum and baby. Both of us were carrying a lot of things, and she did not take anything from us. My mum was very shocked, commented that my maid does not even take anything from us, but did not scold the maid. Instead, she went to the baby's room to clean the baby. Told the maid to bring the basin to me to take the water, and the maid left the basin on the kitchen table, which I did not know until I went to the baby room to check on my girl. Mum asked me where's the water, and that was when I asked her where the basin. She pointed to the kitchen table with a super black face, and I told her off that I am the mam. If I don't talk to you, I can don't talk to you. You are the maid. If you want to be like this, and don't want to work, then you dont take my money.

She went back to her room, and then went back to the kitchen where I was there alone, and started shouting at me again, thinking that my mum can't hear. She said that it was all my fault, said that I don't talk to her. (Truth was... when I talked to her, she complained to my husband said that I shout at her. When I don't talk to her, she complained to my husband that I don't like her. Even my husband told her off.), and on and on. All I did was repeatedly said 'never mind, never mind.' (cos we are going to send her back in 35 days time). Then my mum came into the kitchen and scolded her. She changed immediately and told my mum that I was the one who scolded and shouted at her. My mum was so shocked, and told her straight to stop lying, cos she heard everything from the living room. Then she kept quiet immediately.

I seriously can't wait for her to disappear from my house. I have never felt so unappreciated before in my entire life!
At first, got her in to look after my girl, but found her shaking my girl so roughly, that I look after my girl myself. She cannot touch my baby. Then my father in law has a stroke, so she was supposed to look after my father in law. But father in law recovered quite well, so became independent, and she again don't need to do it.

Things she eat:
We bring her everywhere, e.g. restaurants... to eat good stuff like us. Once there was a whole chicken, she went straight for the drumstick. We ordered KFC, each of us have 1 pc, and she ate 3 pcs. We ordered prawns, and she kept eating the prawns. When she was first here, she will finish her rice. Now no. She will also not waste food or drink. Now bring her out, buy her mineral water cos she wants, she will drink 1-2 mouthful, and threw the whole bottle away. Previously will eat leftovers (e.g. from yesterday dinner, or today's lunch), now, super black face. Previously eat everything we gave her, now she will go check the food and if she don't like it, she will tell you she don't want to eat.

deon: Got Prihatini Sugianto as a transfer maid but have sent her back after 1 mth with us. She was with previous employer for 3 months. She's a terrible liar (very good liar to be precise as she can spin stories that are quite convincing) and will fake fainting spells.

Worst of all, despite being a mother herself, she can't take care of children.

de_luvsg: My helper packed her bag and ran to Embassy. Says she is homesick. How irresponsible...just left my ailing grandma at home by herself and took a cab with the ang pao money we gave her to the Embassy.

arisz: My agent called me and said the maid is at Embassy already. She told the embassy people that she is homesick and wants to go home asap. But she had not finished her loan in Sg. She barely worked for me for less than 3 months.

My agent asked me to wait and see how first. She is trying to settle with her 'management' on my case. Coz I suspected my maid of stealing money and my mil ever complained that the maid stole 100 bucks from my sil. I'm angry that I have to pay the air tix for a person whom I suspect is a thief. She caused so much trouble for me by just running away like that.

Furthermore, how she mange to run away is most likely last night when we reached home. We asked her to lock the door. She did not lock at all since she plotted to run away. It is not the first time already.

The first wk when she was here. That time my hubby accidentally left the house key in the leaving room before he left for biz trip. She sneaked out around mid night leaving the door open and not latched to make a call downstairs. My boy and I was sleeping in my room (unlock) and hubby was overseas. I was very angry when I found out. I scolded her for putting me and my boy at risked and herself also dangerous.

How to buy air tix for such a person to go home?! I'm losing so much in terms of monetary just because she is homesick and she ran to Embassy for help. Who is going to help me then?!?! I did not ill-treat her at all lo!

Anyway, juz found out today coz my sil check her hp bill then realise that her extra sim card is missing and the bill got calls to phillipines.

nanyanggirl: I would never again go to Dynamic Employment at Peninsula Plaza. And I will never again hire maids from Myanmar. Dynamic got us a Myanmar maid. The agency is run by a single Myanmar woman who was so sweet - but it was only till we pay the 6-month loan and the agency fee.

This maid was not great but OK but she wanted to leave within 4 months. The agency simply dragged their feet getting us a replacement maid. They refused to give us biodatas. However, the Myanmar maid we returned to the agency, they got her a new employer within days.

I have grown sick of Myanmar maids. They eat A LOT, I mean really a lot, like manual labourers who carry heavy sacks the whole day and need to eat a mountain of rice for their energy needs. We are a Buddhist family, the Myanmar maid was a Christian convert. She said she wants to work with a Christian family. The agency disclosed that they did not charge the maid any transfer fee! From their treatment of Myanmar maids, I can see they virtually worship their maids but are rude to employers.

bboy: Faingason Rosela Sarsua worked for about 6 months. housework's not heavy as she dont have to cook, dont have to bath kids, dont have to put kids to sleep and dont have to take care kids at night. basically very simple housework of washing and cleaning. take care of kids less than 5 hrs add on per day. im her no.2 employer in Singapore. she was with another employer for less than 1 week as she said she was not given enough food. her problems with us:
- never greeting us from beginning.
- keep asking for hp and offday after 1 month work. - love to compare us with her past employer in oth country (dubai if im not wrong)
- she will talk back. never admit mistake. never apologize. never say sorry to us.
- dont like to answer when we talk to her or ask her to do things in fact we always use 'pls help us'. she will just ignore. sometimes she will do but sometimes not and when we ask her why she said she dont know. if we insists she reply to us when instruction given then she will shout or talk loud back.
- always said she scared by us talking loud but she talk even more louder than me sometimes when she suddenly can very black face.
- washing not clean. clothing always put not in the right place. when we asked her, she said have already put all in right place.
- verbally abuse kids. said kids lazy and monkey talk. dont like to take care of kids. no carring twds kids.
- she will lie without blink eyes.
- she never take the initiative to help. she will nag with her filipino language if you ask her to help do things.
- she is DIRTY. her wardrobe left expired food and paper candy (found out only aft sent her back agent)
- she is LAZY. always sleep early.
- never follow instructions.
- she takes 1 hrs to throw recycle thing to the downstair. when we asked her nicely did anything happened and she just said no.
- never to do things that she supposed to do. when i asked she said busy.

This maid is always not consistent in her talking. This maid does not honor her words. She always twists her words. Maid knew we depend on her. She threatened us many times starting work that she wants to quit on employers whenever she likes. As her employers, we are very fed up of her.

start to show unhappy face and said i lazy never take care of kids to agent when we sent her back. stolen money and lie the most reasons why we sent her back agent.

musicbox: bboy, what a coincidence that my previous maid also from iloilo, she was sent back PH after working for me for 4 mths. Problems more or less the same as you. The experience I learned from her is that, if she said want to quit or hint or threaten to go back agency, just send her back immediately, we are the BOSS, not them. You must make them feel that they come here TO WORK and not to enjoy life, if my maid dare to talk back to me again, I make sure she get it.

My current maid is MUCH MUCH better than the previous maid, I told her from the first day she came that NO talking to stranger, No using of HP during working hours, MUST greet me and my visitors all time, MUST reply me with "yes mum" all time. I told her no need to ask me question not stated in the contract, no need to test my limit, once she break the rules, she'll be SACKED.
So far she's happy living with us, after my first day of "fierce introduction", i do talk to her like friends subsequently. She told me if she was sent back agency and work for another employer, her loan will add up another 2 mths (I think this is what my agent warn her, coz my pervious one keep thinking she can change employer anytime as she likes), so she will work hard for me and don't want to be transferred. I like her very much, although she's not perfect and do make mistake, but to me as long as she's willing to work, listen to instruction, take good care of my kids, that'll be more than enough.

bboy: i regreted so much that i didnt send Rosela to police instead or send her back home. she has found 3rd employer in singapore 2 days ago. i recalled some incident. i think Rosela pinch my elder son once when i tried to stop my elder son pinch her back. i've nv seen my son pinch anyone before but he tends to hit back to us when we punish him. that day the night i notice his hand has bruise.

CWL: just a piece of advise, do not go to Twins S Employment located at Toa payoh. I am currently employing an Indonesia maid from them, when I ask for replacement maid on Aug this yr, they drag my time and never follow up. I always have to call them to check. The owner of the agency avoid my calls like anything. Very disappointed with their service. I am looking for another agency now. This agency drag my time and made me have to cross over to the new scheme to give maid off days every week, which will be another $70-100 extra cash I have to fork out.

sugarene: heavenzstz, I thought I was unlucky enough to get a helper who over 6.5 mths keep threatening me 4 times to send her back to the agency for reasons due to :

Being told off and ticked by me (cos she's FOREVER forgetting what I said and keeps saying you didnt tell me maam!) 1st time that happened, she SHOUTED at me to send her back(She was only about 3 months with me then). Sent her back to counsel, came back fine....do her stuffs and "seng mok" alot without mistakes.

Just barely 3 weeks later, tells me again that she wants to go back cos my son (hyperactive) always talks to her rudely, scolds her, hit her. Me and my husband DO NOT condone son's behaviour and ALWAYS punish him for his bad behaviour. Sent again to agency for counselling and comes back again, with "conditions" like allowing her to go church, and SECRETLY buys a phone and tells us after. Well, as she's "clean handed" (our stuffs dont go missing) and she's the more quiet type of filippina, we tolerated her ...

After a short month or so, told me AGAIN she cant tolerate my son! This time, we gave in and told her fine, help us till i get a new maid. Very next day I went to confirm a new maid, am told she would arrive mid or by Nov end latest. She reluctantly agreed and come 3 weeks later in Mid Oct, went berserk again asking to leave IMMEDIATELY! As I really cant do without a maid, we talked to her nicely that if she helps me out till my new one is here, I would allow her for transfer, and continue working in SG , otherwise if she is adamant about leaving IMMEDIATELY, I could only minimize my losses to send her back to Phil. (The agency she was from charges me food and lodging, all in all I would lose up to $450, given her f***ked attitude that SHE HAS A RIGHT TO CHOOSE HER EMPLOYER, sure max out the 21 days!)

We asked her to think about it, and she insisted it's fine by me if I were to send her back to her country (although blaming me that i'm unreasonable. OMG these people are really BARBARIANS and doesnt understand that I can only do that to minimise my loss, and wont be helping her since she gives me such trouble!!). So I said, I will book her tickets to send her back the next day.

The very next day morning while I was preparing to go work, she refused to do any work and bang things around. BUT, little did i know of her plans to RUNAWAY leaving my poor son stranded in school!!!

Was really sooooo mad that I was taken like a fool by this idiot!! Like you, we treated her well, didnt abuse or torture her, give in to her attitude and even sent her to dentist and this is what she repayed us with?!! Really damn terrible! She works like a missy, doing her work slower than her maam, we tolerated. And only my son, she claims she was bullied by him (My son hit her when she provoked him and she even hit him back!!)

Stupid maid thought she is entitled to transfer out by running away to the welfare home, ended up getting repatriated and banned from working in sg! There goes her future, ruined by listening to their "smart" friends!

rocklee: I had a filipino maid who worked for me for 4 years. She was well-liked by my family, even my relatives and friends. My children were very attached to her too. I gave her one month home leave and before she went back, I had repeatedly stressed the importance of not getting herself pregnant while on leave. I had also explained the consequences to her. I even told her to take precautions as I knew she had a boyfriend back home. Despite all these reminders, she came back and a few weeks later, she was pregnant. She told me she got married during her leave. I guessed, being newly wed, they were just to "excited". I was extremely upset at the news. She told me she took precaution BUT only after the act was committed! So what can I say!? While I had to arrange to send her back, I stopped her from doing all the heavy household chores, just in case she might get miscarriage. After this drama, I had to go through the recruitment exercise and training all over again.

michelle_wei: I have many bad experiences of maid like you all too. I have changed several maids ever since my son was born.
I have very bad experiences with my past maid taking care of my son, now because of my daughter and my restrictions, I employed my daughter's first maid to take care her around one and a half years. My first maid all along is rebellious , never follow instruction, and always fight with my only 1 and a half year old daughter.I ask her why she do that, she say because your daughter likes to fight with me. A one and a half fights with a maid? That is so unbelievable.

I am so angry with her that I send her back to kampong. After that I found her letter and she wrote in english She loves to see me angry everyday as she finds my angry eyes very cute. That is so shocking. She even says she dislikes me talk to anyone except her, that is why she purposely make me angry everyday as she enjoyed my attention. She seemed like a pervert or pyscologically insane maid.

Now I have another new maid, and what a luck. The 3rd day she feign sick and pretend to faint in my kitchen and living room. When I say I want to call the ambulance, she woke up. After working for one month now, she told us that she is scared of my daughter's cry, that is why she always forget things. In the first place before she came, I already tell her the job scope fully and now she says scared of look after baby.

She even yaya tells me I try first la, cannot then me balik agent. I ask her to learn english, she says why you dont know bahasa indonesia and why all your children dont know how to speak also. Wow, this attitude really sucks. Next time no english entry test for them they even more proud and say, u see u see, no need sit test so your child must learn bahasa indonesia.
Life is hard but still have to go on. Good maids are impossible to find nowadays as they always feel they are the queen.

doreen1112: Share my experience : I have 5 children age of 12, 6, 1 and 2 months twins. I employ maid is to help my mother in law but I am regret to employ a Flipino maid at age of 25 single which i though that she may have energy to play with my 1 yr old girl and click with other ages kids but im wrong. I gave birth to my twins on feb 2013 so i do a switch to let her handle my newborn babiea cos she cannot take care of my 1 yr old girl. The bio data show she can handle newborn very good status but for what we see is not. My advice to you is better to be very sure on yourself what you want them to do before employ. And also the handphone, do not let give them the phone cos my maid used while she is taking care of my one yr old girl. I have a son at the age of 12 yrs and i know sometime he is playful but my maid dont seem to be mature enough and had a argue with my boy.One last thing, don't also give her a habit by helping them everytime cos this will make them to became lazy.
And now I need to get a replacement maid same Flipino but age at 42 and hope that she is one I want.

First 2 months, maid was very hardworking.
Slowly the problem comes after we moved to 5 rooms which only few block away fr mother in law.

1) never change my elder son bedsheet and asked him to change himself

2) never wash the toilet clean eg pile on the floor never remove and scrub the floor, the four corner around basin never wash, the toiletries should be keep properly in the service yard cabinet she never put it nicely, the kitchen cabinet wok, turberware & plate messy.

3) use my mother in law handphone to sms and call, told my mother in law not to tell us

4) have told her to fetch my daughter from childcare dont let her go to the play ground, straight away fetch her home but she didnt sometime cos she want to talk to her friend and allow my daughter play 5 min.

5) mother in law neighbour saw her walking very fast to the direction where she is going to fetch my second. My third is in the pram and she never care of my child safety. you know why... she want to chit chat with friend so that she wont be home late.

6) give attitude when I said she never clean here and there. Why I know cos of my living room there is a very big mirror.

7) complain to my neighbour or her friend that she taking care 5 children. She only taking care of one where got 5.
Fyi, my elder is 12 yr, my second is 6 yr, my third is 1 yr, my forth and fifth are newborns.
My mother in law is mainly taking care of the 1 yr and one newborn
The other two no need to say already one at childcare and the other he know how to take care of himself.

8) like to taste all the food that is in my house and tell my mother in law not to tell us.

9) not good in taking care of baby or toddler. Especially my third always crying, finger nail so long already hurt my third. I suspect she even has beat her cos my third keep showing us sign.

10) she sit outside my house there is staircase
My third is sitting in the pram use pram to cover thought that I did not see her using the phone

11) use my third pillow, put it on the staircase and sit on it.

12) always bring my third to sleep, close the door
When one day I open found she applying nail polish

13) I add her in my facebook and found she uploaded photo all took in the common bedroom where she always make my thrid sleep closing the door.

14) pretend stamach pain go toilet asked my mother in law to take care of three when my mother in law said r you feeling ok if not I call my son to bring you see doctor from that she stop going in toilet already

15) told my mother in law she got bf but not real bf. She only want to make use of this guy to buy stuff for her

16) use my son hp

17) she even can talk to her friend from our living room window while my mother in law is in the house sleeping

From the above I think you can see that how many chance i have given to her yet still like that. Me n my hubby even have sit down with her talk to her so many time and this is what we get it from her.

Now I get a new fresh maid from PEM. She has work for us 1 month already. All my kids like her. Sepcially my third whom is so difficult to take care. She can handle her. Hope that this will continue going well. If the two yr contract over and her performance still maintain. I will still use her.

quixation: I am quite unluckily for the past year to have engage such maids..
1. Caught my maid stealing cigarettes and smoking in toilet
2. My maids cash is inconsistent with her story
3. My maid confessed that she goes out of the house when we are not in
4. My maid was caught on the phone once when we went out..
5. She was caught sleeping when we went out for dinner and came back at 9pm but her work was not finished.
6. My Maid never never since day 1 wakes up on time at 6am as instructed. she can wake up at 7 plus or even 8plus..
7. Everytime I gives her like $4 to buy food, she will say no change but actually she kept all the change.

I have video of her confessing to above and even to being under-age. If i return her to agent, she gets transferred. If i send her back, i forfeit my loan. Should I report? If i report that she is under-age, how will the agent compensate me? They and the maid breached the work permit conditions..

Pinkcream: My maid non stop facebook n watapp till I confiscate her Hp. I only return her when I back from work . She has another phone is under prepaid card . My in law keep on complaining she has many call comming in. Daily housework she do but seriously I don't know did she really do housework , I working can't see . She just getting lazy . Only thing good about her is she can cook well n take care of my in law well .
Now hesitating to transfer her out or not

Excited Mummy: From the news I read about people abusing maids, I felt so angry that people could treat maids like that. But when i read about maids abusing babies, children and even killing the old woman, I feel worried. There are always two sides to a coin.

I told myself to treat my maid like a family member as I want her to feel welcome. But she has betrayed my trust and not appreciative of what I do for her. Advice from friends, relatives and colleagues & even my maid agency - Treat your maid as a maid! Not as your family member. It does not mean you dont treat her well. But you need to strike a balance. Let her know you are the master/mistress of the household and that she is a worker. Not treat her as a slave but treat her as your worker.

Treat her as how you would want your boss to treat you. Basic respect accorded but not too close. Maintain some distance. Dont let your maid climb over your head.

I used to say thank you (after my maid does something for me, such as put dishes on the table for me) and even sorry to my maid (that i forgot that her loaf of bread is about to finish & have not bought, and that I asked her to eat biscuits first for breakfast)! But now, I don't see the need anymore. In fact, in the past, she didnt even other to say thank you to my hubby or me when we bought food for her or gave her food. I told her off before - said you thank your God for the food, you should also thank your Sir and 'am. Then she did, though not always. Now, she gives me a black face everyday and doesnt even want to say. In fact, she is giving me the silent treatment!

She told the agency that she wants to work in a big house and not for me in this small flat. She accused me of not giving her enough food and rest. If she doesn't have enough food, how could she have put on weight and her face become so round??!! can sleep at 9+pm and wake up 7am, still not enough sleep??!! I sleep even lesser.

My mother-in-law has an Indon maid who has a hp and she had 2 accidents within 4 mths!! Once she was knocked by a car in a carpark but she was not badly hurt. less than 2 mths later, she was hit by a motorbike while crossing the road and was admitted into TTSH. She stayed for 3 nites!! she didnt want to be discharged. both times, she was talking on hp!

My mother in law's current Indon maid's contract doesnt allow her a day off but my mother in law allows her to go out with friends as her Indon maid will give a black face if she disagrees. This indon maid is going home in July, so she is more lax with her.

SKY2012: I used to have this ex-Sin maid from Indonesia but her behavior and character is simple dubious. Left with no choice but send her back after 6mths. Cross my finger in-case anyone do employ her subconsciously.

She being our 1st maid, we concur thinking if we treat her well she will definitely return good favour by being obedient and take good care of our baby. So whenever she made mistakes, we did not raise our voice at her but educate her repeatedly. We celebrate and gave her red packet during her birthday, allow her to call home whenever she requested. We also let her eat whatever she want such as specific coffee and milo for breakfast and teabreak, only white bread no skin with spread, cook whatever she like for lunch/ dinner. But this maid very bad and did things that I feel really not correct.

1. She will purposely damage utensils and throw food away, and request to go out and buy every now and then. One time I saw her throw away food in refrigerator and another time saw detergent bubbles in our soup she cooking. When ask her on the spot what happen, she just look at me and act simply innocence.

2. She tell tales such as my mum always on phone and let baby injured, my mum dislike and scold her, won't let her take care baby etc. When ask her why baby cry or injured, she will push to my mum and baby e.g. my mum let baby injured, baby hurt himself, knocked himself. It will never be her problem.

3. We actually found out she ill treat our baby. She deliberately intimidate e.g. scare, shout at baby and upset the baby e.g. no urgency to give baby milk when baby hungry, and even cause physical injury stealthy whenever she find opportunities around the baby e.g. pinch or slap baby.

4. She always complaints stomach pain but not a single time doctors can diagnose what problem. But we will let her sleep and rest and cook for her.

However, she did something more horrible - Report Indonesia agency that she was ill treated and was not bring to see doctor when she was unwell, and want to be "rescue". After investigation by agency personnel, its show that what she say was untrue. Her aim was to get transfer to a new employer without paying money as she know new contract will warrant her a higher salary and compulsory off day.

I was very shock when I heard the outcome. She was not a good worker that for sure but above show she was also scary to scheme such a lie without a blink of eye. I realize she was not sincere to come and work but get paid to come for holiday.

Without second thought, we decide to sent her back Indonesia immediately at expense of not getting back her loan, agency fee, paying air ticket etc although agency told us to let her transfer instead. Just imagine what she will do to other family if she really get transfer. To add on, I found out that she also steal clothing from both me and my mum place when I was packing her belonging to sent her back Indonesia. I think her only good point is ACTING.

audreymania18: i also got a transfer maid in PEM, Her Name is Jenny Sebedorio Naraga.
she is allow to go for off day and her pattern all come out. PUI. Straight away i send her back to phillipines. Her few friends in contact with her facebook, just be careful in case your this maid mix around with them and influencing your this maid.
1) May Lorica
2) Angelica Baljero
3) Fe Fernandez
4) Rowena Bandojo.
BTW, i never hire any more maids , 2 times is enough, i pay them yet see their attitude? What CRAP???

Janvier: Now i'm also very scared of maids...they're really very good at acting paid air tickets and agency fees for a maid to come over...and ended up she keep lyingto us and went out when we were not in.

She also told us she don't have phone, when asked a few times again told us her phone spoiled. Until we heard her phone rang and asked her to give us her phone number, she gave the wrong number. Confronted her and she says she gave wrongly, and gave us another number but told us no money to call out. And the next day my mum caught her using the phone when my mum went to my house while we're working. We asked her again, she told us her phone sometimes can call sometimes cannot. In the end, we managed to find out she has 2 phones. We told her nicely also that she's not supposed to go out just like that when we are not around... she can actually tell me that my house windows and door closed by itself and she is scared... that's why she went downstairs

She told us she took care of 3 children before ranging from 9 year old to 15 year old, very difficult to take care but she can handle. And now~ she started to feedback say why children cannot just sit there... i was like...what the hack? kids are not called kids for nothing? My son cry but she will pretend nothing happen and just walk past at times -_-~ *sigh

Pinkliciouz: Greatlink - I know my maid agency, the boss of the agency actually has several maid agencies. When there are transfer maid, they will swap here and there. There was once I waited for 2 months and no maid, and they dont't want to give me transfer maid. I was so upset, my husband and me went down to the shop to scream at the girls, demanding a refund. We made a very hoohaa, and the next day, they told me they have a maid for us to use for the time being while waiting for the maid of my choice to come from Phillipine.

That time, I was about to due anytime and without a maid, no one is going to help me with the household chores and the baby. I was so stress, I was crying already. With the baby about to due and no help, and the agency keep promising to deliver and never deliver, I was in depression... I live in a double storey house so w/o a maid is not a joke ... These people at the agencies, when you are very nasty, then they will try to speed things up for you. If you are nice to them, they will jiak gao gao (eat your meat and chew your bones)...

Veg: I should have searched the web! We got conned by Greatlink Employment Agency also. We had the trauma of having to change maids 3 times in 1 year, and ended up having no maid!... and those so-called agents at Greatlink will anyhow stuff unqualified maids to you. We definitely got our bones chewed by Greatlink.

mummy of 2: My current maid has no off-day, and I'm insisting on the same for my new miad who will come in early Nov.

I was kind enough to give my current maid two hours off to meet her friends, even though she has no off-day. She came back late and a few days after that, showed black face, and said she wanted to go home without finishing her contract. She had been with us for 8 months then. She asked to speak to ther person from maid agency, and refused to tell me why. I had to tell her off sternly to stop her nonsense and bad mood.

Before anyone thinks I'm a terrible employer, I must clarify how well we treat her. She eats the same food as us, at the same dining table. If we eat bird's nest, she also gets a share. If we eat out, she can choose what to eat, whether it's at hawker centre or restaurant.

She had some lumps in her breast, and was worried she had breat cancer. To reassure her, I brought her to see specialist at SGH. Each visit cost about $100 (which I paid for), and I had to take leave to accompany her for each appointment. She saw the doctor 3 or 4 times in total.

Despite how well we treat her, she changed after just one outing with her friends. I have since learned that we should not treat our miads too well, or they will take for granted.

Charmaine_chong: My current philippino has been working for me coming to 9 months now.
Well, she gave me a lot of headache and likes to tell lie.

She borrowed $$$ on her 8th working day. She cried loud and had severe homesick. I was very worried and helped to sent $100 back her country. She couldn't concentrate on her work, always made cold milk for my baby, nap for one to two hours everyday.

I got a lot of nonsense from her, eg: argue with me a lot when asked her to do cleaning or housework. She would say why must do this. Just a little not clean, why you made a big fuss. And never forget to borrow $$$ again and again.

When my baby cried for milk, she took her own sweet time. I told her to see what happen to baby. she told me with food inside her mouth. Wait, let me finish my drink. i was very pleased off. When we visited my in law. She passed the baby to me and sit down there once we entered the in house. Sign with me she wanted soft drink. I felt like gave her good slap. I ignored her. I scolded her very fiercely and sent her to agency few times but she didn't care at all. Untill lately, she sense the importance of earning money for her 3 young kids ,she changed a little bit.

Even i eye witnessed her did somethine wrong. She would still argue with me that she never did it. This is something that i can't tolerate but have leant to accept it slowly.

klearad: Honesty Maid Agency Provided PREGNANT MAID!!

Agency owner said will contact employer the next day, but staff can't contact her.
Honesty maid agency located at toa payoh hub provides a maid who is already PREGNANT!

Return maid on 28 Dec, agency did not reply by 29 Dec, and did not send maid for medical check-up to check how many weeks pregnant and want to send her back. Staff cannot provide maid's medical report (when asked when did maid did her last check up before joining the current employer)

Staff promised on 28 Dec that they will call by 29 Dec but noone call. When employer called up, staff said can only liaise with owner Joanne as they cant make the decision. And Joanne cant be contacted whole day and no one can inform current employer on next step or provide medical check up

Maid has been deliberately telling lies to employer, that caused employer to believe that is overly suspicious. She will tell one thing, and cried to employer that scold her while telling employer another story. Most scary part is that she hid a handphone from employer, secretly messaging to her boyfriend on what to do with her pregnancy... Her boyfriend came to meet her secretly during daytime, outside employer's house. Maid will purposely tell that the guy is outside, then when employer asked her, she will said she did not say that.

Amy2014: We get a maid from United Channel on 11 Jan 2014. After several days, we realized we got a lot of bug bites, and we found bed bugs on the maid's suitcase. Further communication with the maid confirmed that the maid's hostel has been infested by bed bugs (same as the one found on her suit case) and she was also biten by those in the hostel. I am pregnant and the bed bug bites are so itchy and irritating that it is not tolerable. In order to control them, we have tried to spray different pestcides. However, pestcides are not very effective against them and it is harmful to human being too. We are hiring a maid to help us, but now the bed bugs brought by her is causing serious trouble to us! We are very upset, because first of all, the maid agency is not doing proper pest control of the maid's hostel.2ndly, the maid agency had not informed us of the situation of bed bug infestation of the maid's hostel and the subsequent risk of our house been infested.

Subsequently, we complained this problem to the maid agency, but the maid agency never apologized. The maid agency staff lied that they do proper pest control of the maid’s hostel. Their email reply is:
“With reference to the above and our telephone conversation yesterday, we have no issue or bed bucks and ticks or cases occur prior to this, we had routine and regular pest control activities, according to our boarding house stuff.We regretted this isolated incident happened. It might be due to other possible spread by of family members or guest who happen to be a carrier.”
Their email reply is ridiculous. Our house is newly furnished, and our house seldom has visitors, and our visitors are hygienic white-collar people. I feel very angry about such irresponsible reply from the maid agency.

berlin: Just sent my maid Maria Sandra Pael Geronahome.
We're a small family , a couple with 1yr old toddler. No pets, no inlaws. She was a transfer maid. She was good during her 1st month. She started showing her true colors during her second month.

We're 1st time employer, kept giving her so many chances till we gave up. Thought that a 39yr old mother would be a mature good maid. She's not only forgetful, super lazy, very cunning, always telling lies, taking our things to bar trade with other maids, gossiping, ungrateful. She can really act. Definitely a waste of talent to be a maid.

Something is certainly wrong when a maid had so many employers within such a short time frame. U be your own judge!

ciena: Jocelyn Mateo Antonio was seen running in the neighbourhood, behind her I saw somebody trying the best to stop her. The maid has run away.

The maid had been doing this:
Has come for maid job - for months has not done much work, does not keep things clean,
Few months mostly been in moblie phone. Doesn't know how to take care of kids work- has caused physical abuse by pushing the child's head against the wall. After noticing this act, she was told not to do so. For everything she would keep disturbing the members and their work. Instructions was given in the most understandable form, still would not be practising on and off, doing her things, would like to spend more time chatting with friends outside, changing 3 or more outfits a day, ironing them.
very less and very few work given to handle by herself which wouldn't be done mostly.
Done little work. For few months, she was to handle one child's eating, as all others would eat outside. Even the basic thing wouldn't have been done.

what is done is very little and basic work. Most work not done and lying. (She wouldn't bother even about preparing the breakfast -bread for quite sometime).
Most of the time spent on her upkeep and personal things like washing, ironing 3-4 of her outfit per day for daily usage. So her time spent for washing her clothes and ironing them.
The employers office wear dresses would remain unironed.

Her interests: Phone calls and messaging. Ongoing interactive messaging regularly at nights.
She uses physical pushing of the child from the room.The child being pushed literally from her room to the other room, she would send the two children out of their room.
This has been regular practice to use the room for the long messaging purpose and happily sleep on time each day, in effect the
employer would be handling her duties tolerantly working day and night.

At least two three occasions in the night she has banged the elder child's head against the wall with big sound. Being warned and told not to do such things.

Before this, she has worked for another employer less than 3 months. She has worked 3-3 months and
to get transferred she ran away. Any day she thinks will do this, cross the traffic light in red, would go anywhere. she has done unusual things than what was supposed to be done, her attitude and behaviour being in question.

kiasimom: I always say that having a maid is like having another child at home. Gotta have lots of patience, rules and lots more. Just like handling another child.

However, still need to keep a close eye on the maid no matter how long she has ben with us.
After all, they are outsider and will just turn their back against us anytime.
Of course, I am not saying all maids are like that but it doesn't hurt to be more cautious.

I have been very firm and I only tell maid off when she committed a mistake.
Of course there are times she will try to make me notice her by reporting to me each time she completed a task. She is still trying but my stand is firm.
And yes, our government here protects the maid more than they protect the employers. But what to do? If we need to have a maid, we have to live with it or we can only hope miracles will happen.

hquek: Maids are only humans, I also slack a bit sometimes when it comes to work. When that happens, I'll just remind her what needs to be done. But I draw the line if she's not receptive to feedback (ie show black face or totally dun give me face when I'm telling her), or if she's rude to my mum, or guilty of worst things (polluting our food/drinks, stealing, cruelty).

Generally ok if she comes to tell me upfront what she spoilt - won't ask her to pay, but I get really angry if I have to find out for myself (cos I feel she's lying to me).

kiasimom: When my ex-maid completed her contract after 2 years, she agreed to extend her contract for another 2 years.
She asked me to help her to apply for a new passport. She doesn't want to go to the agency for extension as she has to pay around $500 for that.
Since she has been with me for 2 years, I decided to be a Samaritan and drive her around. To the embassy and to the maid agency. Seeing that she will be working for another 2 years with me, I offered her an off day monthly. She got her passport after a lot of hassle.
Ah huh,.. that's when everything changed!!!

Guess what she did. She began sending out CV of herself to many agencies and was actively promoting herself to angmo families.
She wants to work for angmo as they can give her higher salary. Boy, she is unlucky that I discovered her plot one day. She then told me she was not wrong in doing that. So what if we signed a contract? We can give each other 1 month notice for termination!

I feel as if I was struck by lightning! So much for being compassionate and kind. In the end, she couldn't find another employer and begged me to have her back.
Did I take her back? No, of course! If she can betray me once, she can betray me again.

the moment she turned the table on me, I immediately went to the agency and get another maid, all within a day. I told her I have spent a few hundreds to get a new maid. She offered to compensate me as long as I take her back. Still, I maintain my stand and decided not to use her again.

7575: Posting something useful now though late.
This is the maid, ika riyana that was with us for a year, found her stealing sg dolla, hk dollar n ringgit over thousands, rolled up n tied with a rubber band n hid in her clothes.

My mom in law found it, took the roll of notes away immediately afraid she would hide it somewhere else if she found out soneone touched her things. Why am I so sure she stole them? I allow none of my maid hold any money. If they need money to buy things, they can ask from anyone of us at home to buy for them. We sometimes even wait for them when they need to shop for clothes. I keep a record of the money they own, signed by the maid n myself.

N guess what after she found out the roll of notes was taken away? She rampaged my room searching for the money with my mom in law watching her in shock. My girl was merely 2 so my mom in law did not dare to do anything but to call my husband immediately. In case the maid went insane, my mom in law locked herself n my girl in another room just in case the maid decides to do anything crazy.

When we rushed home n questioned the maid, she denied all the way till the moment we sent her to the agent. I did not report to police as my mom in law took away the roll of notes n we have no evidence then. Couldn' t catch her red handed. I told the agent I want her sent back to her country. Her loan has been fully paid anyway.

Agent was good enough n I think they have their own ways of handling her. They did not ask me to buy her flight ticket. They canceled her work permit as promised, sent a scanned copy to me as proof. When we hand her over, her pay n her Ang bao money were given to the agent, the agent counted and asked her to sign a note saying we did not owe her anything anymore, sentence hand written by her. I think this is a good practice by the agent.

zeek: I would like to complain about my FDW name Villarin Consuelo Alfaro. She has been working with me for past 3 months. On 24th Oct she complained of stomach upset and wanted to see a doctor, for which she took permission from me. I left for work at 8am, and she left at 9;30 for the doctor. The whole day she kept her mobile switched off and was untraceable. She finally reached the maid agency at 5;00 pm.

All this while I had no information about her and neither did she call me. She in all these months never hinted that she was unhappy. She used to eat happily and was paid $500 p.m.

My daughter comes back from school at 4pm, and she was left standing outside the house all alone till I returned at 5pm. I live in a landed property and my daughter was standing on the road for over an hour. As I was at work there was no way of informing my daughter. My daughter has been very scared after that day and very upset.

Ms Villarin did not inform me about her intentions and when I went to her room in the evening she had cleared out all her clothes and belongings. The last Sunday that was 21st Oct she went for her day out and I had seen her take some clothes and when asked I was told they are for her daughter. I did not check her bag.

I am really very upset and have complained to MOM so that people like her who break a contract and run away should be taken to task.

thebusybee: My MIL just discovered my maid's been meeting an Indian man at the market frequently.

MIL's been suspecting it as our maid will on and off asked for money from ILs to buy things like garlic, onion, as an excuse to leave the house.

Earlier this morning, my MIL saw this man followed them to the market food centre while MIL's with my SIL, my maid and 3 kids. After that my MIL went to the market stall owners to check out, confirmed that people there have seen my maid meeting/talking to this man many times, even when she's walking my son!

Few months back, she claimed she has lost our house keys while on the bus, after some lecturing and telling her the consequences, her story changed and the keys miraculously appeared! We now worry that she had passed the key to this man (apparently he's staying nearby) We intend to change another pad-lock to be safe from now on.

tamarind: maids are not motivated to work hard.
Let's say you can fly to USA to work without paying for anything, air tickets, lodging, food are all paid for by your employer.

You are allowed to change employers as often as you like. You can leave one employer, and then within 7 days you can have your new work permit approved for a new employer. You can change 12 employers and MOM still issue the work permit for you without any questions.

If you are not happy with the country, your employer must pay for your air ticket home, even if you have worked for only 3 days. The employer loses the maid loan.

The maids must be thinking how easy it is to cheat Singaporeans ! Let's all go to Singapore to have a free and easy holiday !

Momm: I used to have a manila maid who will look anywhere except my face when I talk to her. Even though I told her repeatedly she should look at me when I am talking to her, she just stand there for a good 15mins just looking elsewhere!
In this case, she is obviously trying to spite me and have no regards for me.
She cries everyday, affecting my family. She claimed she misses home and her family is very rich and can redeem her loan. Told me she came here just to explore, not really set on working!

2ppaamm: my maid who worked for me for 7 years. I treated her like a sister. I gave her all my clothes that I CAN still wear because she is my size. We are tall (about 1.7m).

If you read my post earlier, she wanted to go because she was pouring a whole bowl hot oil into the sink and I told her not to. This is because my sink choked a few times and it would cost $300 to fix that. For that, she refused to talk to me for weeks. And then demanded to go home. I had no choice, I was 8 months pregnant and this maid brought up 4 of my kids.

This is also the same maid whom slept in air con (looking after my kids), traveled the world with me, and slept at 830 everyday, because she looked after kids only. I had another maid who did housework.

When I was sending her to the agent, she cried, and because I love her so much (I still do), I told her to ask her to arrange with the agent to come back. The next few days, I called the agent to arrange for her to come back, the agent told me she demanded that I have another maid to assist her because work was too much. That was it.

This is maid #1. Maid #2, finished her 2-year contract and wanted to renew. This is not a perfect maid, I caught her locking my son out while I was out and had to turn back. She was in the toilet reading newspaper, while my 4 year old was crying for her to attend to him. I watched, she took 45 minutes. Many other incidents, but I was willing to overlook all these and close one eye. Then, she found out that I was moving house. On the eve of the move, I told her pack two clothes cupboard, (the rest was to be handled by the moving folks). The next day, I woke up to find the gate ajar. She had run away.

Well, this is not the first maid who ran away. But she did not run away to the right place - for me. She went to this humanities group folks, and they then brought her to MOM to lodge a complain about me. The complain was that I had not fed her for 2 years (and she is still alive) and that her working conditions was so bad.

I asked that this group meet with me face to face. They refused, I called up the owners, nobody wants to meet, but they continued to take sides with the maid and demanded for stuff. It was ok, I was prepared to give her everything, after all, she helped me for almost 2 years (one more week to 2 years). But the problem is, because of the complain to MOM, I was not allowed to have maids, whether or not the allegations were true. She came home to pack. I asked her, in front of the folks who brought her back how many slices of bread she ate every morning. Answer:"4". Then she said she does not have fish. She had a separate fridge, so I asked her what the chicken wings and fish were doing inside. She said she had no salmon fish.

MOM then demanded that I sent her off. I did. I paid everything, gave her an extra $600 and bought a really good oven for her so that she can start a new business. But, I still could not get a maid until she board the plane. This whole saga took 1 month to settle. Me in the big house with everything in boxes. No one could help me with my 5 kids.

I transferred a difficult maid once. She started off very good but then started to not want to do anything but act like the boss. She bossed around the other maid and screamed at her to do things...where do i stand? I then transferred her. After she worked for the new employer for less than 3 months, she had to go for an operation. It cost the new employer about $17K. After the ops, she behaved really badly, my agent told me. I should have sent her off. I feel so bad having to 'do' this to the new employer, I should have sent her home...

My very last maid left with me blacklisting her. This is because I felt that to let her come back to Singapore would be a dis-service to my fellow Singapore friends. Who would want a prostitute in the house? This maid got me so angry everyday, after 1.5 years, I had this throbbing pain in my head every time I got tensed or angry. She would know what makes me angry (e.g. leaving the iron in the rain, not taking the rubbish out, and my house was infested with mice), and I would get angry repeating and repeating myself. When I scold her, she would laugh and sing in my face. This pain has now slowly faded.

blurqueen: my new maid got to know some maids from my church, someone told her it's "cheap to call Indo using V019", and she abused my kindness and use the HP we gave her to call back Indo. The HP was so that she's contactable by us when she/we're out. My DH was hopping mad when her 2wks bill came and it was a whopping $300! Her other 2 wks finally came and it brought the total to a cool $500. Needless to say, she's got to pay for it.

Her 1 month of "mistakes" cost :
phone bill $500
hub's silk tie she went to wash $300
hub's shirts she tore in tug of war with w/machine $200
marble wall tiles in bathroom (she used strong acid to wash it) $4000
and couple of other things which i can't remember

who said maids cost us $700/mth? Mine just cost me $5000 :cry:

mum03: as days pass, maid started taking care of my hubby, more then me.
We were once in ECP hawker centre after church service for lunch. It was a hot afternoon, while we were eating we were perspiring. My Maid took a tissue and gave to my DD, to give it to my hubby to wipe off his sweat. :x and here I am also sweating "NO TISSUE FOR ME". Told her off, that her job is to look after my DD and the house not my husband. Another incident, while driving back from church (Hubby not in town), DD ask 'What date is daddy's b'day", before I could reply my efficient maid said " 8th". I was stunned, how do you know my hubby's B'day

I gave her a piece of my mind, and told her where she stands in my family, told her that alot of Flipinas like to break family, by stealing other people's husband. Her reply was "they also have needs".

tweet: my sis just sent her maid looking after her in-laws home before CNY.maid worked for only 3 mths.She has 2 maids, one maid to look after her in-laws, another to look after her 4 kids.she is not staying with in-laws.

Maid nowadays getting very clever, this problematic one knows that my sis goes bac every fri evening.That very fri, she went back in the afternoon. found maid not in, left the invalid ah ma at home. she waited 3 hrs before maid came back. maid shocked to see her, dared not say anything. my sis called agent, agent came, all the questioning....went to meet BF, old man got wife, grandchidren etc... Agent check her stuffs, found she kept hp in her undies.... hp more interesting-got photos of maid and bf,some pics also taken in in-laws hse, x-rated movie too....

my sis really gave up.. the previous maid brought "Banga" bf home to do business, got caught when FIL woke up. Bf so scared that he ran off forgetting his underwear. my sis rushed down in the wee hrs, called police & agent.. same thing lor, maid sent home, police said no case...

peapot: This morning before I go to work, I discover my maid soaked her underwear with my child's clothes!! That's not the startling part, her underwear was still attached to the shorts!! Which means she remove her entire shorts and underwear at the same time and dump into the clothes just like that!! Argh......I have told her before she must wash her clothes separately.

MUMMYOF3: I'm very very angry with my maid and the agency ! I had this Filipino maid from my agency (Budget Maid). She ran away recently and was sent back to my agency but ran away again from the agency. She has been with me for only 2 mths and now she wants to go back to Philippines and my agency wants me to pay for her air ticket. It's so unfair to me !!!! This is the 3rd replacement from the agency and all their maids are so lousy. I was looking for a maid urgently so i took my 1st maid with them. She was a transferred maid but she has tonsilitis and i've to spend $100 on her medical bills where she only worked with me for barely 2 mths. Doctor advised me to send her back to agent or i'll have to spend more on her medical bills. I took a new maid as replacement but returned to them 3 days later as the maid was homesick and cried everyday. I wanted my refund back but they recommended me a transfer filipino maid and said that she can work but only problem is that she can't get along with the first employer. Now, the maid ran away to MOM boarding house and wants to go back to Philippines and my agency wants me to bear the responsisblity. They're very dishonest and push away the repsonsibilty. Damn angry

My filipino maid told me she is a princess maid and don't know how to do housework. Always eat before us and never have the courtesy to inform us before she starts eating. She never have to cook nor take care of my 3 boys except helping with the housework at my dad's house. My dad is already 70yrs old and that's why i've to get a maid to help up with his housework. He'll cook and take care of my 3 boys. Weekends, my maid will do housework at my home. She complaint too tired.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^This 'balcony' looks safe but still maid isn't suppose to climb out of the window.

If your maid is a thief, employer has to bear the actions of his/her maid and count himself/herself as unlucky. But if somebody else, not a maid get caught for stealing/robbery, the thief/robber faces up to 14 years' jail and no less than 12 strokes of the cane if convicted of robbery. For $10!

A 24-year-old father of two has been given a two years' jail sentence by a Singapore court for breaking into his former workplace and stealing a cash till and the two-dollar bill in it. This fellow, a Malaysian, broke into a Sakae Sushi outlet at Parco Bugis Junction and forced open the rear door of the restaurant at about 6am on 28 June 2011. With a screwdriver, Ansar pried open the cash box. For stealing $2, Ansar was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. Below Filipino maid stole $6300 but only given 3 months' jail sentence. Isn't this double standard and unfair? Can you deceive yourself and others, this is part of human rights or all human beings/nationality/race are treated equally? Not that I'm trying to be nasty to PAP/MOM, you have eyes to see what happened that infuriated us!I just want to highlight thatSpore has double standard. It is very harsh on its citizens/non FDWs. FDWs/Maids either get away scot-free (employer unable to report maid to police in order to get back the remaining maid loan from maid agency) or were given very light sentences ..... because the activists/MOM felt maids are forced to be bad, no money to be punished severely (can't fine her but can cane her, right?) and most important of all, FDWs are protected like endangered species in Spore, deserve a fantastic life even if they have done something wrong or cruel! Look thru my posts and open your eyes to see what I mean by FDW's employers were blackmailed and not treated fairly as HUMAN BEINGS!Spore is a safe haven for lousy or bad working ethic FDWs, can you deny this? Can you lie that what I've posted here are untrue ... I'm making making a mole out of a mountain?

Facebook maid-thief, Straits Times, 4 Jun 2014A maid stole $6,300 worth of jewellery from her employer on her last day of work but was caught after photos of the loot she posted on Facebook came to her victim's attention.Filipino Evelyn Macaraya Clotario, 35, was sentenced to three months in jail on Wednesday after pleading guilty to stealing from 42-year-old Scalzi Barbara. Only about $2,000 of the loot - which included necklaces, bracelets and rings - was recovered as Clotario had remitted the rest back home. She worked for the Briton from Feb 21, 2012 to Jan 21 this year at the Flynn Park condominium along Yew Siang Road.In May, Ms Scalzi's friend told her about how her own maid had stolen a necklace and she only discovered the theft after checking the maid's Facebook page.A search on Facebook would reveal the profile of a certain Clotario Evelyn based in Singapore. One photo showed four necklaces, three bracelets and six rings placed on a pillow with the caption, “Mao intawon ny naane sa pagkaud dri.” A rough translation of the phrase is “Ganyan and nakukuha/naaani sa pagtatatrabaho/pagsisipag dito (This is what you get from working).”Winter: When I read this, I was thinking should I post here? If I post, will more going-home maids do the same thing? Will FDWs start to use short or false name to create Facebook accounts so as not be be tracked or caught red-handed? Then I decided to post because maids are very clever (became cunning), they can still 'learn this skill' elsewhere. You don't want FDWs to turn bad (some employers reluctant to give off days), the more you restrict them, the more they want to break free. Thrilling? Rebellious? Greedy? Some employers would check their going-home FDWs' luggages but if bad FDWs want to steal, they can slowly pack the loot and pass to friends then meet up at home country... no bullet-proof method if a maid wants to be a live in thief. They are too clever and some felt their employers are rich, taking a little is alright! Some FDWs have weird mentality thinking employers are stingy if being caught for taking a little bit.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^An aircon man came for servicing. His hands got itchy and molested the maid. Maid claimed she was shocked but kept quite when the molestation took place for the sake of employers' young children. It was later found, the previous maid (repatriated home due to bad conduct) invited the lecher 色狼.... Chinese version.The English version is a little different from the Chinese papers. It didn't mention anything about the bad conduct (seducing) ex-maid, her special encounter 引狼入室 with the aircon man .Air-con service man touches maid, STOMP/AsiaOne, 8 Jun 2014The employer of a 28-year-old maid expressed shock that a air-con service man groped her maid and flashed his private parts - all while she and her family were at home.The employer, who gave her name as Louise, told citizen journalism website Stomp that the man has been arrested and is currently out on bail. She said the man had been hired to clean the air-conditioners in her Bukit Timah home. "Halfway through the job, the man approached my maid in the kitchen to ask the whereabouts of the previous maid and if she was new," she said."She replied quietly and the man caressed her buttock. The soft-spoken maid was shocked and immediately brushed him off. "Thinking that the incident would be a once-off, the maid continued with her work in the kitchen. "On the pretext of washing the air-con cover in the yard toilet, the man stepped into the kitchen."Without saying anything this time round, he put his hand on her left breast. The 28-year-old single maid felt humiliated and told him directly that she did not like that. "The man then walked away and came back into the kitchen with a pail shortly after. Putting the pail down, he hugged her from behind with both his hands resting on her breasts. "Horrified, she struggled out of his arms."Towards the end of the job, the man asked the maid to the yard. The maid refused but the man insisted. The innocent maid thought he genuinely need some assistance like earlier, so she walked over reluctantly. "To her disbelief, the man blatantly unzipped his pants and stuck out his private part at her. "The poor maid was frightened, and she ran back to the kitchen and hurried off to serve the kids dinner."The man apparently remained in the toilet for a long time before taking his leave. "Right after he left, the maid informed me of the abuse. "I was shocked. I was right in the living room when all this happened. "The case was reported at Bukit Timah police station the same night. "The man was arrested and is currently on bail for further investigations. "Whether or not the man continues his work to service other households is not known. "It is unthinkable what might happen if I had not been at home that day."Wanbao, 9 June 2014

^^^^^^^^^^^^^My/Employers' money not hard earned? You mean money dropped from the sky or Employers picked from the floor? How many of you are given free money, no need to work and/or sweat?This is what I mean by poor working attitude and mentality. Such maid, not punished by MOM will continue and 'teach' others this method. It is a good method/tactic to make employer transfer her to another employer. We don't print money or have money falling from the sky, we want a good helper not a trouble maker or 'black hole'. Is MOM aware?

MOM is only keen to side maids, taking the excuse they are lowly paid .... how lowly paid can live-in FDWs be compared to our low income citizens? Earning lesser than FDWs and not given dignity to live well in Spore. Some of them are old, lowly educated or doing cleaning jobs .... work long hours just like FDWs but why they are not being cared more than FDWs by PAP?Sleeping with men, getting entangled with men is part of human rights? Be prostitute - play well and enjoy life as FDW. Pretend life is hard, pretend you need love, shred crocodile tears, get the activists, people working in MOM or people who pity you to employ you.They should have lots of empathy and a kind heart to welcome prostitutes. They should do what they proclaimed or preached. If these ‘nice’ people can’t take you in, God should punish them for pretending to be Angels and ignore the woes of FDWs’ employers … lying is not a virtue.Having love affairs at employer's expense, you felt this is fair? You should become a maid-prostitute's employer. Enjoy her service and feel the goodness.If you're a devil, don't pretend you're an Angel. If lying is in your blood, don't pollute this world.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Extracted from "Not Maid-to-be"
20 November 2013 .... by Mummy May
One of the biggest impetus for us to relocate to London for a short while would be our maid issues. To date, I have had 4 maids. The whole maid experience has been both disappointing and disruptive. In fact, I cannot foresee us having having a domestic helper in the near future.

The Story
I have blogged about my problems with my first two maids. On top of that, I updated my frustration about them on Facebook and have complained to anyone who cared to listen. I knew that all these actions did not look good on me. From the eyes of an outsider, they possibly have the impression that I might be a difficult person to live with. (Read my blog post on my first two helpers here.)

My third helper, Lorelyn was just a random pick from the maid agency. She was the only transfer maid(walk-in) in the agency at that point in time and she was very keen to work for us. We decided to take her as my maternity leave was ending and I had to return to work. When I thought my bad luck in maids had reached the lowest, I was taken by surprise. Lorelyn had to be sent back to her country. She was crying all the time, claiming that she was homesick. When I asked her to do work, she came up with excuses like she could not do it because she has rheumatism. She constantly told me that she was unable to handle two children. In my short 2 weeks of having her in my house, she behaved strangely and often told me that her sister is very angry with me. Like what!

Usually, my helpers will get to wind down and start rest time around 8ish. On one occasion, she was in her room sleeping around 10ish. At round 11ish, when I was in my bedroom, putting the kids to sleep(yes, I put both of my kids to sleep myself. The maids get their rest much earlier than me!), I heard hard and rough brushing sounds from the toilet. I got E to check and apparently, she woke up to wash her clothes in the middle of the night! Seriously, that was weird and creepy especially so when it was the lunar month of the Hungry Ghosts.

Because of all these reasons, I knew I had to let her go because I felt unsafe with her. It was so bad that I often got my mother to come to my house to accompany me at home. If not, I will just coop the kids and myself up in the bedroom. In the end, we got the agency to take her away. When I was checking her bag before she left, I found that she kept soiled sanitary pads(!!!) and a packet of someone’s hair(!!!) in her luggage. A few days after the agency took her away, we noticed that there was a strange smell in our house. We checked and and realised that Lorelyn kept a soiled sanitary tampon in the vegetable compartment of our refrigerator. *sigh*

My domestic helpers’ drama is just getting ridiculous. Even by my standards. I decided to stop whining about it on Facebook or even share with my friends. I just felt it really look terrible on me. It was almost embarrassing to tell people that I had 3 maids in a year. It is always so easy to demonise the employers. When we decided to get our fourth helper, Marison, we interviewed her via Skype and she sounded very enthusiastic and very professional. The story did not end well either. She was with us for one month. She constantly lied to us about completing her household chores. The house was so dirty that even our feet were black from walking on it. Still, she could lie to us with a straight face. Wow wow! Initially, we were taken in. Over time, we just realised that she is really a compulsive liar, and lazy and confronted her on her substandard work. On her second off day, she stole petty cash and she just decided to not return home anymore. She went back to the agency and decided that she did not want to work for us.

4 maids in 1 year. This is no badge of honour. It has been really a terrible experience- mentally, emotionally and financially. On the Sunday midnight when E and I were at the police station, making a report of a missing helper and stolen cash, I was feeling quite drained by the string of events. The whole idea of having domestic helpers was to alleviate my burden but my helpers all seemed to add on to my plate of work.

The Aftermath
The maid agency owed us a sum of money. Like the pro-rated insurance and also the salary(for no maid services rendered) of the last maid, Marison which we had paid to the agency. When you are trying to get money back, it is always so difficult. The boss of the maid agency did not pick up my calls or answer my messages. When I called the maid agency, she was always busy with something or someone else and “will get back to me later”. If you want to know, all my 4 helpers were from the same agency. We thought we could trust them. Apparently, we thought wrongly.

We had to take a trip down to the agency one Saturday and “chase” for the payment. As fate would have it, the boss was not around and apparently, there was no cheque book in the office and no one could pay us any money. When we were there, I recalled the same scenerio( read here) of the day when we were getting our first helper, Emily. There was a couple who was banging tables at the office, demanding for return of their money. So, we have reached one full cycle with this agency. Ironically.

The boss promised to transfer us the money that night. However, it was not done. After 5 days of persistent calling and messaging, she transferred a portion of the pro-rated insurance to us. The salary was not returned and the boss of the maid agency was avoiding my calls and my messages. Despite informing her that we would be going to CASE, lodging a complaint with MOM and going to Small Claims Court, she did not reply or return a call.

In the end, we had to go to CASE and hand deliver them a letter informing them that should they refuse to return us the money in 10 days, we would be going to Small Claims Court. I also e-mailed a complaint to Ministry of Manpower(MOM). Surprisingly, the boss of the maid agency called us last Friday, asking us to withdraw the complaint to MOM. Apparently, MOM called them and some documents were missing from our file and demerit points might be imposed on them.

Last evening, we met one of the employees in town. She passed us the some money owed to us and she got us to sign some papers to not pursue the matter anymore. We decided to write the rest of the amount off. Too much work.

Learning points for myself:
1. Be more self-reliant and never get a maid ever again. The house may be dirtier, the laundry might be not done. But at least, we had more freedom at home. Our valuables can be left around without the fear of a stranger stealing it.

2. If getting a maid was unavoidable, get the helper from an agency in the neighbourhood. It is much more easier to liaise with them. From my experience, I find it very hard to trust maid agencies in town. It seems like the maids there are all trying to get a Caucasian employer and just walk the dog. Also, my previous maids always came up with some issue/problem almost every time after they do for their off days. These people are really cunning. Hmm…

3. Trust that the authorities are not biased against the employers. If we are right and we share our issues at the right avenues, it is possible to redress the injustice. We should never give up in getting justice done. Sometimes, it is not just about the money. It is about making sure that the culprits will know that not everyone are push-overs and not “try their luck” again on some other family. Anyway, I am really thankful towards the MOM officer who was in charge of my complaint case. Because of some responsible and efficient stranger on the other line, my problem is solved and it made me feel so much better.

****
Employers of domestic helpers have to undergo a counselling course should they employ more than 5 domestic helpers in a year. I wonder if it is the same for the maids. Do they need to undergo a counselling course if they are rejected from 5 employers? If all maids are supposedly as “good” as what many believe them to be, why are there so many transfer maids sitting outside the maid agencies?

This ends my post on Not Maid-to-be. In light of the recent events, I really hope everyone try to look from the angle of the employers of domestic helpers. It may seems that it is so easy to say that maid employers should be “more humane”, “more understanding”, “more caring”, the same is also true for the flip side. We should also expect the same for the domestic helpers- to be “more humane”, “more understanding” and “more caring”.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^A rising trend for maid to turn violent or payback? Provoked to take revenge and the law is lenient to them. MOM is signalling to Employers, it is alright for FDWs to vent her anger, take revenge? When employers abused maids, they get heavy sentence/fine, families get implicated and they have to foot their own legal/court fee .... abuser/bad/murderer FDWs need not pay a cent! When FDW committed an offence, activists are very lenient to them, can't wait to protect them and cook up excuses eg they were abused, not well fed, treated poorly, under stress, overloaded, mental problem .... all the crappy excuses! In recent years, more and more domestic helpers seem to be acting out against their employers and the employer’s innocent family members. There have been several shocking and horrific stories of domestic helpers abusing young children or acting out and even murdering the elderly.

We also read about maids who spiked employer's drink, abuse child, etc in this site. Would you keep a bad conduct maid?

Would you recycle her (transfer) or send her home (repatriate) at your own costs? Why should we withhold the truth, be dishonest and do a disservice to the next employer? Our money are used as maid loan and maid's recruitment fee ... do we have a better way out? Do you hate our FDW system for not being transparent and fair to employers?

The Straits Times reports shocking incidents of maids trying to inflict harm on their employer’s kids.The first incident is that of an Indonesian maid who put detergent inside the tin of milk powder that was for her employer’s twin boys. Titin Agustiana revealed that she did this “unwholesome thing” because she was unhappy about her employer who kept on criticising her work performance.

The second incident is that of another Indonesian maid who held a pair of scissor’s near to the body of her employer’s baby boy while threatening to kill him. Nuhasanah was demanding her employer to send her home.

What can parents do to ensure that the maids that they hire are really trustworthy? What steps can they undertake to prevent incidents like these from happening to their family? Treat them extremely well? Shower them with abundant love and care so that they have no chance to be bad?Bad conduct is born to be, polluted or a result of not too nice employers? 以牙还牙 受污染 一时脑筋失常 本性是坏只是太会掩饰In what ways have MOM helped FDW's employers?

Which organisation has been set up to fight for FDW's employers' rights and well-being? Disgruntled maid jailed for hurting employer's mum, 75.A maid who caused hurt to her employer's 75-year-old mother because she was unhappy about her workload was jailed for two months on Monday, reports The Straits Times.Indonesian Siti Maesaroh, 24, admitted grabbing the face of Madam Lai Guat Kean and, in the resulting struggle, causing her head to hit a wooden shelf as the victim tried to remove the maid's hand.A magistrate's court heard that Siti Maesaroh had been working for the household in Bedok North Street 3 for two months before the incident on Dec 26 last year.She had been unhappy about the workload given to her by her employer and his elderly parents, particularly because she felt she had not been given enough sleep. At about 6.20am that day, she went over to Madam Lai who was sleeping on the sofa and grabbed her face - eventually releasing her grip when the victim screamed for help. The attack left Madam Lai with cuts to her head and cheekbone.Maid refused to admit her negligence which caused baby boy to fall from bed - 11 instances but stubbornly denied 4 Jan 2014 Lianhe Wanbao雇主称：不满被换走女佣搞报复女佣不满雇主，被换走前搞报复，疑3张床褥连同床单留经血，雇主大怒闹上中介所，扔血褥血床单挡门口，警察到场调停

A maid was to be replaced by another. Before her employer transferred her out, she took revenge by purposely staining 3 bedsheets with her menstruation.

This afternoon, I saw a maid doing something more bizarre… more thought-provoking.

On my way home, I saw a maid with an old man in a wheelchair beside her. I have seen this maid pushing him to the park a few times before. On this occasion, instead of going to the park, the maid parked the old man in the wheelchair at my neighbour’s gate and she and my neighbour’s maid were sitting on a bench beside the gate. And what the heck were they doing there? Well, the two Indonesian maids were chatting and watching a mobile phone screen, and not paying any attention to the old man. But the maid was supposed to take him to the park to get him some fresh air!

Why did the old man keep quiet? I looked at him more closely. His mouth was half open with the lower jaw hanging down loosely. Obviously he was a stroke patient, incapable of talking and protesting. And the maid knew it!

After about 5 minutes, I came out of my house. The maids were still chit-chatting happily and the old man was still staring vacantly into space.Dogs get bullied by maids. Old people, especially invalids, also get short-changed. Whose fault is it? What can be done?

Winter: Why maids are given the leeway to bully somebody's love ones?My maid washed used diapers with rest of laundry, AsiaOneWhen her new Indonesian domestic helper started displaying "psychotic and depressive" behaviour, first time mum Selene Ho feared for her newborn's safety.

"I could understand that she was homesick and missed her family. But when she began crying for no reason, muttering to herself and hiding in the storeroom, I was so scared she would harm my baby," says Selene, 28, a business development executive.

"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I found several used diapers being left to dry on the clothes hanger. My maid was shocked when I told her that those should have been thrown away," says Janice, who is in her 30s.

There are currently about 150,000 foreign domestic helpers in Singapore. Most of them come from Indonesia and the Philippines. Earlier this year, major maid agencies raised the benchmark monthly salaries of Indonesian maids here from $380 to $450.

With the adjustments, expectations from employers have gone up too, say the agencies. "People have the mindset that since they're paying more, they expect the maids' quality to be better, too," says Peter Loh, director of Swift Arrow maid agency.

Young Singaporeans who hire maids to look after their babies and kids form approximately a third of his clients. With a budget in mind, young employers are also more focused in their search for the perfect helper, says Tay Khoon Beng, director and licensee of Best Home Employment Agency.

"They ask for those with relevant babysitting experience - but it is not always easy to find someone who has," he says. Khoon Beng adds that new domestic helpers typically attend training courses before they depart from their country. When they arrive in Singapore, they attend a one-week crash course to help familiarise them with household chores and other skills, such as caring for newborns.

However, he says babysitting only forms a small portion of the topics covered in the course, and that it is the employer's responsibility to provide more in-depth training.

Is it just luck?

Agnes Fong, 53, who has employed maids for over 20 years, says it all boils down to luck to get the right maid to suit your needs. One of her maids enjoyed working for her so much that she renewed her contract four times - that's a total of eight years.

Two years ago, when her grandson was born, Agnes hired a domestic helper to look after him. However, she had to send her back to the agency when she "couldn't get a grip of her emotions".

"I went through months of nightmare with the previous maid. She kept crying and couldn't adapt even after three months," says Agnes. She was luckier the second time around. Her present helper, Inne Sarenas, a 26-year-old from the Philippines, has been looking after her two-year-old grandson since he was three months old.

"When Inne arrived, she was so different from the previous maid. She was cheerful and picked things up very quickly. Now, she and my grandson have such a great bond. She'll be renewing her contract when it ends."

Be realisticHowever, maid agency operators say it takes more than luck to get the right domestic helper. Employer needs to treat their maids with the right attitude. Khoon Beng says some Singaporeans have very unrealistic expectations when employing a maid to look after their kids, particularly newborns. They expect them to juggle everything - from household chores and cooking to caring for baby - perfectly.

Comments:Merlin 12 - How come maids are like robots n must command them?When ask them wash pot, the cover never wash. Understood the cover need to wash ma.No wonder some people hard to get pay increase.Boss very tired always asking them do this and that.

Middleman - this one i heard was worse! she used the same pail that was used for washing her undergarments for washing pre-cook vegetables too! ha..ha!life's like that!

patfong00 - Singaporeans expectation of maid just like their work or boss. They expect people to get less pay, work long hours, and best no rest. But when they come to themselves, they wished they've long rest, many days of leave and all the perks!Yah, wonder why stay-home mums need maid?Mystrawberry - Don't assume they are smart. Few years back my friend's mil still think that disposable diapers can be reused. Many of these Indonesia maid had never seen a washing machine, microwave in their life till they come here.

My friend's maid think that water from our tap came from river hor ... as in free to use like those rivers at their hometown. She let the water run for hours while handwashing the laundry.

Kyotykcaj - Everyone hiring Indonesian domestic helpers, for example, must understand that they are still using charcoal iron in their country, so you can guess how 'advanced' they are now. It takes a lot of patience and time to train a maid in Singapore.

My parents' former maid many years ago- THREW AWAY MY MUM'S GINSENG !!! She thought that was rotten salted fish or food. My mum was fuming mad, almost 'strangled her', but in the end just deducted her pay.

FDW’s conductMurder Threats:The maid insisted I pay for her taxi fares for her personal use during her rest day on Sunday Nov 17 2013, she also added that she is just trying her luck as most of her friends say she is not entitled to such a thing. When I returned home from work on the following day, the FDW spoke to me of the recent Tampines murder of the maid killing the employer’s child, and added this is all because the employer was not good to the FDW. She further continued that there was also a case where a Filipino maid drowned the employer’s 2 young kids “by mistake.” I have 2 young kids aged 2 and 5 and it was an insinuated threat.

Potential “Killer Littering” by willful Negligence:On November 19, 2013 I called home to check on my children. My older child picked up the phone and say “the auntie told me to watch TV and be quiet.”

That night when I returned home this FDW lied to me that it was my older child that threw out the toys, however I learnt from my older child that it was actually the younger one, and whilst my younger child was throwing those toys out she was in the same room and did not stop him, she just watched him. When I asked the maid what she was doing during the time the toys were thrown out, she lied she was “showering the younger child.”

A few days later I received a letter from management mentioning that one of the toys (a metal train) almost hit a 5 year old girl’s head on the first floor and there was a picture of all the toys that were thrown out. I was horrified at the number of and the size of toys that were thrown out as that many toys to be thrown out would have taken a very long time, it’s not a matter of a 5 minute shower as the maid indicates. I suspect there was a foul play involved in this and I went to file a police report. Later I took the maid and went downstairs to apologise to the neighbour, instead of apologizing the maid retorted back to the neighbour that she was showering my younger son. To which the neighbour said, the toys flew out every hour on multiple occasions (which justifies the amount) and rheutorically asked the maid “do you shower the child every hour?” Her lie was uncovered by the neighbour testimony and hence my suspicion of willful negligence still persists. When I went home I asked the maid, why she did not apologise properly, to which she retorted “what do you want me to do, kneel down?” A metal train had nearly hit a 5 year old girl’s head on the ground floor, if she was hit by this she would have died instantaneously, and this maid feels no remorse or repentence…is this even human? This is inhumane behavior, and moreover endangering the neighbourhood peace and safety. It is beyond belief that she can call herself a Catholic.

Death and Runnaway Threats:I was told on Dec 7 2013, that the maid’s mother is severely ill and cannot take care of her children (who are 20, 19, and 11 year old all very self sufficient ages) she needs to go back immediately. I offered to send her back and wait for her until she returns. She has advised us that she does not intend to return to Singapore again to work (which is a complete lie).

Despite the fact that she has received an advanced salary all the way until the end of December 2013, within one week I booked her a flight home on the 26 December, 2013. When I communicated this flight booking, she started screaming shouting and kicking, demanding why is the flight not booked before Christmas and threatened us that she CAN and WILL runaway. She further continued shouting that she will kill herself and be sent back to the Philippines dead or alive. I told her she has to leave my house and be sent to the agency’s dormitory as her shouting rage is scaring my young kids; she refused to leave and threatened us that she will kill herself in our home.

To resolve this unreasonable and unruly behavior, my husband told her to pack her bags so we can go to the airport. Upon reaching the airport the Airline counter was closed and the maid started throwing another fit, shouting and screaming creating a public nuisance until 2 police officers came to escort her. My husband rebooked the flight and the FDW was taken into police custody until the flight took off. We have received a call from the police officer around 6pm notifying us that the maid has boarded the plane.

Although actual criminal offences were not committed in Singapore, this FDW’s manipulative and calculated behavior is a psychological abuse to the employer. Knowing that we are both working parents in Singapore (without our parents to overlook the FDW) she has taken the full advantage by threats against us using our beloved children, our situation in entirety. We have given her 8 months worth of advance salary as per her demand (until end of December), and also within only 6 months of joining us she demanded that we pay for her flight back to the Philippines and take 3 days off from our work so she can attend her daughter’s graduation ceremony, out of goodwill we have given her this.

Instead of returning our goodwill with gratitude, the maid escalated into manipulative behavior of threatening us, and abuse our family psychologically.

On one occasion she lost our 2 year old son, leaving him to wander around all by himself, luckily he was found by my husband who quickly took him home. It took her 1 hour to notice that my child went missing and then she called me. I told her that that my child is home already, to which she screamed at my husband asking him why he did not call her to tell her this. Since when does my husband start to report to maid? How can one neglect their job and blame others? My husband was the one that rescue my poor child who could have wandered out on the streets where there is a huge traffick of cars. To all the parents out there, how can we live and work in peace when our beloved children are in the hands of such an irresponsible, manipulative, heartless person? As a parent this is the most excruciating thing, we hire helpers to help us, not to be psychologically abused and threatened by them.

The amount of grief this maid has caused me was colossal, I could not concentrate at work (as I worry for my children), and could not eat or sleep properly. My children were also traumatised by her shouting outrage on the day of her departure and they are terrified of her. I am very glad that we have repatriated her back to the Philippines on 14 December 2013 (as per her wish) but just as she was leaving she have the nerve to tell my husband not to blacklist her as she is coming back to Singapore to work in 2 months time.

Potential employers:Please be careful and do not hire this maid if you do not want to invite trouble to your house, she will manipulate you and your family and ask for money that is outside her salary scope like a blood sucking leech and disrupt the peace and harmony in your home. She will cause you more grief than help. She will always start with “my previous employer paid for this and that…and gave me free cash.” She will take advantage of the situation where both parents work and threaten you using your children as a mental hostage situation.

From my terrifying experiences I have shared I hope I can help and prevent other families with similar situations as us from being psychologically abused. I sincerely hope this FDW can be blacklisted for a safe Singapore.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^Indonesian domestic worker jailed for trying to serve insecticide water to employer, ChannelNewsAsia, 19 NovAn Indonesian domestic worker was sent to jail for four months for attempting to serve her former employer water laced with insecticide. 28-year-old Pipih Sopiah was upset with her then-employer, 48-year-old Chong Bee San, for scolding her. She sprayed a cup of water with insecticide, rinsed the cup and refilled it before handing it to Ms Chong. The incident happened on 5 April this year.

In mitigation, the accused said through an interpreter that she is a single mother and has a daughter to take care of. For acting rashly or negligently, which could endanger someone's life or personal safety, Pipih could have been jailed up to six months and fined S$2,500.Winter: Employer didn't die so maid escaped severe sentence. Even if employer is dead, lawyer can help her fight the case as mentally unstable ... a valid reason, an excuse to be given lighter sentence.Will this maid be able to come back to Spore .... take revenge (maybe), prey on somebody else using a fake passport, fake name? Possible.^^^^^^^^^^^^^Winter: Do you want to be kind by giving your maid a termination notice? Below is a case of a Myanmar maid. This kind of behaviour can happen to any nationality. They are just maids, humans, NOT angels! Some FDWs just felt that they have the rights to vent their anger but still can get a transfer to another employer because no police report was made. This MOM loophole is to their advantage, it would be silly not to use it. Employer cannot do anything to make her pay for her actions. Sending her back home means no need to bother about maid loan and a free air ticket paid by employer .... good deal ... another loophole! MOM hasn't done anything to prove this is wrong. Maid vent anger by pouring bleach, The New PaperShe was in the shower when she felt her head burning and the pungent smell of chlorine filling her nose. It turned out someone had poured bleach into her shampoo and conditioner.The culprit, she later found out, was her former maid, whom she had decided to send back to the agency the day before. The maid, a 26-year-old Myanmar national, had been with the family for four months.

Her employer, a 45-year-old businesswoman who wanted to be known only as Mrs Tan,was unhappy with the maid's performance. What she did not expect was that the maid would get back at the family by putting bleach into all the bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the three bathrooms of the family's penthouse unit in a Woodlands condominium.

Mrs Tan lives with her husband, and her two daughters, aged 21 and 18. Her older daughter's boyfriend, Mr Neo, 21, a civil servant, lives with them.The maid even allegedly poured bleach into Mrs Tan's youngest daughter's contact lens solution. Luckily, the alert teenager discovered it before she put the lens into her eyes. She sensed something amiss when she smelled the solution. Mrs Tan said: "What if my daughter had put on the contact lens? She could have gone blind.

"If you look at the maid, you will never think she is capable of this." When she confronted the maid at the agency the next day, she said the latter admitted what she had done. But the maid claimed "she did not know the solution was for the eyes".There has been a recent spate of incidents where maids tried to harm their employers.

While maid agents say it is not common, they have come across cases of maids getting back at their employers over perceived injustices.Mr Peter Loh, owner of Swift Arrow maid agency, said he has heard of maids venting their frustration by pinching their employers' children when no one else is home. He has even heard of maids talking about adding urine into the employer's drinks.

"It is a superstitious belief that by doing so the employer will like them. When they talk about this, we will educate them that there's no such thing," he said.Some 28 per cent of maids had their contracts terminated within three months of starting work, The Straits Times reported last month. Some maid agents said that maids are under more pressure these days as employers have higher expectations.

Mr Ronnie Toh, owner of maid agency AC Toh Enterprises, said one reason maids do such things is to empower themselves."A maid feels she can't fight back, so she gets back at her employer in other subtle ways," he said. Mr Toh, who has been in the business for 30 years, said that while some maids are no angels, some employers can also be too demanding.He also blamed some agents for exaggerating the abilities of the maids. "So when the maids cannot perform, the employers are unhappy," he said. Mrs Tan said during the meeting at the agency, the reasons given by her maid for her behaviour were that she was scolded often and had to wake up at 2am to wash dishes.

Mrs Tan claimed this was not true and that the family had treated the maid well. When she was scolded, it was for valid reasons. She said the maid once served her husband, a 48-year-old businessman, fish porridge with uncooked fish. Another time, he ended up eating rice with a 10-cent coin in it.

Once, when Mrs Tan told the maid to clean the kitchen, she splashed pails of water on the walls. This soaked a power socket, causing a blackout. And her younger daughter once saw the maid kicking the family dog.

The final straw for Mrs Tan was when the maid allowed two curry puffs to burn in the oven early last month. "The kitchen was filled with smoke. She was there washing dishes and didn't do anything. So I was angry and scolded her," she said.The next day, she told the maid that she would be sending her back to the agency. Two weeks later, on 21 May 2010, she sent the maid back to her maid agent. The next day, the family discovered that the maid had broken the washing machine by cutting one of the wires.

Mrs Tan also found that some of the family's clothes had become discoloured after they were left in a tub of bleach. And one of their curtains had holes.Mr Neo had to search for his belt and work pass which were found hidden under a pile of mats. The maid also stuffed soiled newspapers into the drains in the washrooms and balcony.^^^^^^^^^^^^^大胆女佣瞒着雇主买第二台手机，偷穿雇主内衣后拍性感照放上面簿，来新9个月就有超过600个“男友”！雇主詹女士（47岁，教师）接受《新报》访问时说，她当时允许女佣使用手机，条件是不能在白天工作时使用，而且只能用于阅读新闻和与家人联络。詹女士说，她有时会突击检查女佣的手机，但她使用的数据流量少，因此以为女佣听话少上网。没想到，原来女佣只是表面上听话，其实偷买了第二台手机藏于衣柜中！她觉得不妥之后，马上展开搜索，并在衣柜中找到一台iPhone，发现女佣曾偷穿她的内衣，拍摄了许多性感照。詹女士说：“手机上有面簿的应用程序，我打开后，发现她来新9个月就已经有700个好友，其中将近9成都是男人！”艳照上网还宣称：我比雇主性感；介绍所：辞退女佣原因网上行为是其一。完整报道，请翻阅04.08.2013《联合晚报》。Maid has over 700 'good friends' and enjoys posting sexy pictures on Facebook.^^^^^^^^^^^^^4 Sep - Give domestic maids mandatory off days, give maids the rights to mix and have boyfriends .... you'll see more of these boy-girl relationship problems which eventually became employers' problem. Not our fault yet we faced the music. Maids want off days, why can't they be more sensible and don't give employers or others headaches? Why enjoy life at the expense of Employers? Isn't this selfish? Is this how maid behaves and show you're a real human being? Can fight over men is just another example you've freedom and is not a slave nor a victim at the mercy of employers.^^^^^^^^^^^^^8 SepMaid steals money, steals mobile phone and steals man while the employer was not at home. Maid also cooked a 10-course delicious meal to reward herself.54 years old tutor engaged maids to help her for the past 30 years. Within two years, she changed 11 maids. The more she changed, the worst she got. Employer has always think maids are her good helper but after getting maids of poor quality from different countries, she said maids are getting on her nerves and had greatly affected her daily life.^^^^^^^^^^^^^Maid who argues a lot and a liar.^^^^^^^^^^^^^Maid steals clothes from employer's dead mother and poses for pictures in them STOMP, 20 October 2013A maid apparently stole clothes, branded bags, an iPad, house keys, and cash from STOMPer Wendy's late mother, and even posted pictures of herself wearing the clothes on facebook. The maid was sent home following several thefts, and Wendy discovered the maid had also stolen and worn her late mother's kebaya after seeing pictures on facebook of the maid posing in the kebaya."My former maid (left in picture, in green kebaya) stole my late mother's kebayas for herself and a friend, and boldly posted pictures of them wearing the kebayas on Facebook while still in my employment! "I only discovered this after I terminated her service and she went home after a string of thefts and bad behaviour issues.

"This maid also stole my late mother's branded bags, iPad, house keys and cash! Wendy adds that the maid had expressed an intention to return to Singapore soon, and will be investigated by the police and MOM if she does so. "She expressed an intention to come back to Singapore soon.

"The police and MOM will conduct further investigations when she comes back to Singapore. "There is already an employment ban placed on her, but she can still be allowed into Singapore on a social visit pass."^^^^^^^^^^^^^Maid burned employers' money, The New Paper, Dec 2010.They confronted their maid after they found money and jewellery stashed away in different places in the flat. But Leni Maya Sari, an Indonesian, remained defiant despite being found out. The 24-year-old claimed she had burned the money which she had stolen from the family.

Why? To destroy the evidence, said her employer, Madam Cindy Lim. She even led her employers to the pile of ashes outside their flat. The police were called to the flat and when asked why she did that, Leni replied in broken English: "I think of burn, I burn lor."

She was arrested and charged with one count of theft. Last Monday, Leni pleaded guilty and was jailed four weeks. Madam Lim told The New Paper that Leni was "not a good maid" but they gave her a chance, hoping that she would improve.

Leni came to Singapore last December. She started work at Madam Lim's Woodlands flat in March, after she was transferred from another household. Madam Lim, 48, a beautician, said in Mandarin: "Just two months into her job, my younger son found money missing from his locked drawer, which was forced open."Not long later, my elder son also lost some money." The two boys, aged 18 and 14, lost about $600 in all.

Madam Lim added that Leni admitted to stealing the money when confronted and she then apologised to them. The couple decided to give her a chance and told her not to do it again. Said Madam Lim: "We also went to the maid agency and asked the agent to scold Leni."

But instead of being repentant, Leni started stealing again a few months later. This time, she targeted Madam Lim's mother-in-law, Madam Ng Choo. Madam Ng, who has difficulty walking, found her money and some jewellery missing in October. The court heard that Madam Ng lost $150 from her wallet, which she had placed in her drawer. Some jewellery, including a gold necklace, a gold ring with jade and a pair of diamond earrings amounting to $1,640 had also gone missing.

When Madam Lim confronted Leni, she denied any involvement. Said Madam Lim: "This time, we decided to send her back to Indonesia. "We did not want to return her to the agent for her to be transferred to another family because she could steal from them too." But before they could do so, Madam Lim's mother-in-law was diagnosed with stomach cancer and was warded in hospital.

During that period, Leni spent most of her time at the hospital taking care of the elderly woman. Madam Lim said that on Nov 25, while Leni was at the hospital, they decided to search their flat. "We found some cash hidden in the pantry area and inside the washing powder container, which was half-filled," she said. "My mother-in-law's jewellery was also found stashed beneath a box in the laundry area."

They planned to confront Leni the next day and left her loot untouched. They took pictures of the stash. The next day, Madam Lim and her husband confronted Leni when she was in the flat. "We asked her if she had stolen from us. She kept mum so we told her that we knew what she'd done," said Madam Lim.

"My husband asked her to take out her loot. That was when she said she had burned everything." But the couple did not believe her. So the maid led them to the rubbish disposal area outside the flat. "There was a pile of ashes there and she pointed to us saying 'there'," said Madam Lim. "My husband was incensed and called the police. He also told the maid, 'Our hard-earned money you go and burn?'.

"But she was nonchalant throughout. Even when she was handcuffed and led away, she did not say sorry." The court heard that Leni had stolen cash in different currencies, amounting to $784, and that she had burned some of it. The jewellery she had stolen was recovered.

It is unclear how much money she burned but Madam Lim said that she later found about $100 which Leni had hidden. Madam Lim said that Leni was a habitual smoker and could have spent some of the stolen money on cigarettes and pre-paid phone cards.

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Maid with bad working attitude
Last year, my dad suffered a stroke which left him half-paralysed. I employed a Filipino maid to look after him and help him with his daily needs. Initially, she was fine, until she started retorting everything that we said to her.

But that's alright. Now i shall list the stuff that happened over the past few weeks/months.
1. One day at around 10pm which is my dad's bedtime, my dad said he wanted to go down for a walk. So i asked the maid to accompany him. She said "dowan" and lied on her bed texting away.

2. My mum had a backache one day so she asked the maid to massage abit for her. The maid said she didnt want to do it cuz it's not stated in the contract.

3. My dad had an appointment at the hospital in the morning. But before that, he went to have breakfast with the maid downstairs. After 15min, she came back and said she needed to use the toilet. Then she went down again. After 5min, she came back and said my dad was gone. So we went down and searched for my dad for 1h.
In the end, it turned out that she had a quarrel with my dad and said she did not want to go to the hospital. She told him to go himself instead, which he did.

4. I reprimanded the maid for leaving my dad alone. So she got unhappy and said she didnt want to work anymore. On sunday morning, she flipped the papers and said she wanted to visit XXX maid agency to look for a new employer. I said okay, and granted her a day off, not forgetting to deduct $20 from her salary.

5. On monday after she returned, she said she didnt want to help my dad to exercise anymore. She also didnt want to massage for him. And because of that, she told me not to pay her salary for next month.

20 years old Indonesian maidclung to the bamboo pole holders of her fifth-storey HDB flat for 20 minutes. She even had her employer grabbing onto her arms to prevent her from falling.
She was rescued after police officers broke into the Queen's Road flat - her boss dared not let her go to open the door for them. They then pulled her in through the window.
A witness said the maid was then restrained and wheeled away on a stretcher. Police said a woman was arrested for attempted suicide.

Winter: To 'fall out of window' is employer's fault? Ill-treated? How could such thing happen when we know modern maids are not stupid and easy to manage, especially they know their rights and where to run for help!Maid thought she can fly? Jumping or fallen out from 5th storey won't kill or hurt her? She certainly showed she doesn't value her life and is reckless. Not long ago, I have updated about a filipino maid who tried to 'escape from her employer's house' using self-made towels. The tied rope towels couldn't withstand her weight and she fell dead. It was found beside her body, a stolen mobile that belonged to her employer . Is it worth doing such risky thing? Did FDWs think about their families if they are gone forever? If maids are hurt or paralysed after performing such dangerous stunts, will their families take care of them without any grievances?

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2 comments:

We are a family of 4 adults. Hiring a maid is not a luxury but a need as i have a degenerating muscles condition. I am not able to stand and transfer myself to the bed and toilet and thus need help. Plus my parents r older now. Over the years, the standard of maids has detoriate badly. Personally i understand that it is not easy for the helper to assist me in transferring and so i tend to go loo only twice a day. During the day all of us are out at work. My mum does the cooking and marketing. But these maids... can still argued that work is too hard. Always threatening to leave as they know my mum is too weak to help me in the toilet. And that there is always a time lag when we apply for a replacement. The last 3 years were the worst. And now, the new one is threatening to leave again to negiotiate for less work(they rather sit down for hrs doing nothing cos other than the usual helping me twice in the loo, floor cleaning, clothes washing and ironing which i see them complete in less than 3-4hrs) I told my mum, lets plan to go maidless. There is no hope in these pple. Afterall there are many assistive equipment in the mkt now like the motorised wheelchair(with different function for different needs), mobile lifting hoist to transfer the patient from point a to b, etc. N now maid is asking me, "why u want to spend money get these and make the maid go out of job?" I totally stunned. Who is the one who told me she want to leave in the first place?....

Some FDWs or source countries think too highly of themselves and felt they deserve better in spore. Wake up, we don't owe FDWs or source countries! Spore is not maids' cash land. We are not maids, agencies and sources countries' ATM machines.

It is tough to get a good helper. No matter how honest I was with the work scope (during interviews), maid seemed to remain on cloud9.... dreaming, unrealistic .... princess attitude. Maid felt it is bad luck she ended up with a job with 'tough duties', thought there are plenty of good life job in Spore. Maid was interviewed but she insisted to paint a nice picture and wasn't prepared to really put her heart and mind to work as maid, thus, lots of problems arises due to her greediness or unrealistic mindset. We ought to blame them for lying/dreaming but end up who suffers most? We! MOM doesn't make maid agencies be responsible for getting us liars or princess-maids!

At least you have a choice to go maidless .... if I don't need a salary, I can stay home but Spore is too expensive to live in so no choice.